Koinonayami ~ The Pain of Love
by Zarla
Summary: The Sequel to Howl of a Growlithe. A kidnapping leads Drak into a dark place, filled with pain, violation, broken minds, broken souls, and something more horrific then he ever thought...the truth about himself.
1. Foreboding

Prologue  
  
  
Drak felt uneasy as night fell, which was odd for him. Usually, he enjoyed the darkness. He had lived in it most of his life, dwelling in an Unknown Dungeon with Mewtwo...his friend. His only parental figure.  
  
It was hard to think of him owning his friend. It bothered him greatly. But that wasn't what was bothering him now. He couldn't place what bothered him as he stared out the window, his messy black hair falling in front of his eyes. Drak was un-used to the common civilities of Society, having been in it for the grand total of 4 or 5 months. He was used to living with Mewtwo, free and un-knowing of all the responsibilities of the modern world. For instance, with Ella E...  
  
Drak sighed as he stared. Even the constant problem of Ella E was not what bothered him...not the feeling that he got as he watched the others contend for her affection daily while Drak could only stumble around, imitating their social graces. Colt had more manners then he did, and had a better sense of tact. But this feeling of inferiority wasn't what was bothering him either. It was a feeling of dread...of foreboding, as he looked out into the deepening night.  
  
His mind flashed to what had haunted his nightmares ever since the horror had stopped...the horrible things he had experienced underground...in the paws of something that was utterly evil...experiencing it's feelings and thoughts as if he were it. He shivered, but knew that the feeling of fear wasn't this feeling either. This feeling seemed like it was waiting for him...something was stalking him. He wasn't sure what or why, but he could feel it in his bones that something was coming for him or Ella E or his friends, and he didn't know if he could stop it or not.  
  
Having identified what bothered him, he felt better. It didn't lighten the dread, but knowing why it was there helped ease it. He looked and watched a bright moon rise in the sky. He watched as it's light sent some of the shadows fleeing. He didn't understand why it made him feel better. Drak usually enjoyed the darkness, the feeling that everything was alone for a moment.   
  
"Why are you awake?" he heard the voice of his Mewtwo speak in his head. He jerked his gaze away, looking around. He didn't see it near, meaning that Mewtwo must be somewhere else in the house. He didn't know where, but he was sure if he tried he could find out. He knew that Mewtwo would be okay if he was, so he wasn't very worried. Drak yawned and looked out the window one last time. He wished he could shake this feeling.  
  
He stood on his feet, roughly clothed with some brown slippers. He limped to the door, his right foot refusing to respond. Ever since that battle in the deep caverns, when Max had thrown the knife viciously at his Mewtwo, burying itself hilt-deep into the Mewtwo's leg, Drak had had a very obvious limp. For a while afterwards, he and his Mewtwo couldn't even walk, but slowly feeling came back, and the two got their rudimentary walking skills. Now, Drak's right leg barely moved, and his limp was painfully evident. It cause Drak a small amount of embarrassment, but he knew the others had their scars as well, and his was small compared to some. Emotionally.  
  
He let his foot drag and noticed the slipper sliding off. He shrugged and left it on the floor. He knew their were bigger things to worry about. He only wished he knew what they were...  
  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Adaptation"  
  
Ellas E's house was small, but could comfortably fit four people, considering they didn't mind close spaces and lines to the bathroom. Ella knew her house was small, but because her family only had four people in it, she never viewed it as a problem.  
  
Her mother was the first to realize the problem as Ella E walked home, bloodied and injured, with four boys in tow, one wearing a Team Rocket Uniform. After her mother was roused with a splash of water, Ella E and her friends sat on the small couch in the equally small living room and explained the whole affair. It took some effort on her part to prove to her mother that the Kabuto was stuck and was NOT coming off her left arm.  
  
While the four boys sat stubbornly on the couch, refusing to leave Ella E but feeling embarrassed for forcing their presence in her house, Ella E pleaded with her mother. She sneezed as one of the dozens of Meowths brushed by her nose.  
  
"Please Mom! Please! I promise they won't be much of a problem! They don't fight-"  
  
Her mother looked at Colt and Caleb, who were glaring daggers at eachother and looking as if to say a rude comment to one another at any moment. It was fairly obvious.  
  
"Ella, where will they sleep? You've got to think this through...you can't just put them on a shelf and dust them occasionally. They need things like us!"  
  
"Well, I was thinking that they could sleep in my room-"  
  
A glare from her mother stopped her from continuing. Ella E reconsidered.  
  
"Um..." she turned to her friends. "What do you guys think? You've seen most of the house, right? I think one of you can sleep at the foot of my-"  
  
She looked at her mother and revised her statement again.  
  
"Um...well, one of them can sleep here on the couch."  
  
"Why don't you make Colt sleep outside in the garden? He's used to wallowing in dirt." Caleb said spitefully. Colt raised a fist, and Ella E's mother sighed and looked even more unwilling. Ella E raised a hand inbetween them, and Colt reluctantly put his hand down.  
  
"No one is sleeping outside." Ella E' s mother said firmly. "Maybe one could sleep in the hallway...there's also a big chair and some pillows near that window over there."  
  
Ella E thought hard. Her mother looked around.  
  
"Maybe one could sleep on the couch here and the other at the foot of the couch."  
  
"I call couch." Monty said. The others glared at him, and he was silent.  
  
"Ella, can't you think of us for a change? This house was barely big enough for four people! Now there are seven! What are we going to do! Don't you realize how hard this will make this?"  
  
"Seven? Are there really seven of us alltogether?" Ella E asked, looking around.   
  
"Meeeeew!" A startled cry came from the kitchen, followed by some crashing noises.  
  
"Gen! Gencey gen gen!" Another voice said, sounding worried. It darted around, as if trying to catch things. Soon, the Mewtwo walked in, brushing small fragments of broken dishes off it's purple and white fur. The Gencey fluttered in after it, sitting on it's head. It looked tired.  
  
"Um...the Mewtwo is bigger then most of us...that might make it so that there are really eight of us." Ella E said hesitantly.  
  
"Ella, we can't! We can't hold everyone in this small house...it's just not possible!" Her mother said, sounding tired.  
  
"I don't think it's a option, Mom." Ella E said, looking around her at the four who stared at her. "They won't leave, no matter what."  
  
Ella E's mother sighed, and held her head in her hands.  
  
"...you get to explain this to your father when he comes home..." she said, rubbing her forehead. Ella E smiled.  
  
Sure enough, she did explain it, or tried to. When her father tried for himself to remove the stubborn boys (almost getting a black-eye from Colt, who was luckily stopped in time), he immediately moved to the phone and made a lot of busy phonecalls. Then Ella E's mother came in and demanded they all take showers and get some clean clothes. This took absolutely forever (due to the constant bickering) and caused no short amount of embarrassment in the boys as they sat in borrowed clothes. Colt had to borrow her fathers, while Ella E let the others borrow some of hers. Ella E was feeling exhausted when her father came to talk to her.  
  
"Ella E, this is a house for four people, not...eight." her father said, looking carefully around. "You were old enough to survive by yourself-" her father rethought his statement, smirking in a sarcastic way, as usual. "Well, with SOME help, for a few months, you can survive some more. I rented your mother and I an apartment a few blocks away. That way, you can have SOME space."  
  
"But Dad, you don't have to move out of your own house!"  
  
Her dad smiled. "Your mother and I just think of it as a short vacation. I think it's a oppurtunity to get away from you rotten kids!"  
  
Ella E's father loved to tease her, and she slapped his arm lightly. "Stop messing around Dad! Are you absolutely sure?"  
  
"Until you can get those boys to leave, yes. And don't get any ideas, cause we're stopping by every night until they do."  
  
"Don't you trust me not to trash the house?" Ella E said innocently, blinking her green-blue eyes.  
  
"Not what I'm worried about..." her father said under his breath. He stood up. "Your mother and I have to pack, we're going to check it out tomorrow. One of your friends can stay in Atelli's room for now, as long as they don't touch anything. Atelli'll pound you if her stuff gets messed up while she gone."  
  
Ella E nodded, knowing her sister's likely reaction. She marveled at the fact she hadn't thought of that before. Her father made his way up the stairs, leaving Ella and her four friends in the Living room, watching him.  
  
"See you tomorrow, honey." he said, and walked away.  
  
The instant he was out of hearing range, the arguing began.  
  
"I'm getting the bed!"  
  
"No you're not! It's mine!"  
  
"No way, I want to sleep there!"  
  
"I've still got the couch!" Monty said. He leaped on it, kicked off his muddy shoes, and layed back. The others stared at him, then returned to their fighting.  
  
"You're USED to sleeping on the floor! Go sleep in the hall!" Caleb said to Colt. Colt got red with fury.  
  
"Excuse me? You should go sleep under the stairs, I bet you would fit!"  
  
Colt and Caleb got within inches of each-other, fuming. Drak turned to Ella E.  
  
"Surely I'LL get the bedroom, right?" he asked.  
  
Ella E rubbed her head.   
  
"I'll decide! Stop fighting!" she said forcefully. The others looked at her. Colt made as if to say something, then decided it would be better not to interrupt Ella E.  
  
"Hmm...Colt, you're the biggest, so you sleep in Atelli's room. Don't touch any of her things, or she'll kill me."  
  
"Not when I'm around!" Caleb said protectively. Ella E couldn't help but smile at the short figure in front of her. Colt smirked at Caleb and walked up the stairs proudly. Caleb glared as he left.  
  
"Drak, do you want the hallway? It shouldn't be that bad, considering where you've stayed most of your life...."  
  
Drak nodded and walked off.  
  
Noticing that his last choice was either the foot of the couch or the chair, he looked at Monty, who looked close to falling asleep anyway.  
  
"Monty, get off the couch. I'm sleeping there."  
  
Monty opened an eye and looked at him. He rolled it and closed it.  
  
"Like heck you are. I called it."  
  
Caleb sulkily kicked Monty's foot, but didn't fight. Monty, glad that he had won his little verbal battle, began drifting off.  
  
"So Caleb, guess you get the chair." Ella E said apologetically. Caleb grumbled and reluctantly moved off.  
  
"My Mom and Dad are moving out tomorrow, so that'll free up their room. I'm going to try and find blankets for everyone. Wait here."  
  
Ella E dashed through her house, raiding whatever blankets she could find. After making sure that her friends each had sufficient covering, she moved to her own room. She closed and locked the door, and then flopped on her bed, exhausted.  
  
She couldn't believe how much trouble this was! It hadn't seemed like it would take this much effort to lodge them all when they were on the road. She stared at her ceiling, where she had gotten her father, a long long time ago, to put a large Growlithe poster. She smiled happily, and felt satisified. For all the effort, this was definitly worth it. She got what she had always wanted. She changed into a striped nightgown and crawled into bed, shooing away the many Meowth's that were sleeping on it. She fell asleep as soon as she hit the pillow, not aware of her parents looking in on her.  
  
"She's a difficult child..."  
  
"I hope she chooses the right one, when she's old enough..."  
  
~~~  
  
"No way! That is so wrong!"  
  
"Don't touch them, you're ruining them! Stop it! Hey!"  
  
"Look at this, you clumsy beggar! You broke one of her glasses!"  
  
"I did not! You did! You jostled me! And don't call me that, shorty!"  
  
"Improving our vocabulary? Jostled is new! Wouldn't expect that from someone of your intelligence!"  
  
"I'll show you intelligence! Come here and clean this up!"  
  
"Hey, I didn't break it, scum."  
  
"Stop it! Look, you spilled the butter!"  
  
"Who ever heard of butter on eggs? Living by yourself in a cave is a lot different then living with people!"  
  
"Maybe it's cause I'm not MAKING eggs, I'm MAKING pancakes, thank you! Give me that frying pan!"  
  
"Pancakes? We don't have all the ingredients!"  
  
"Yes we do, just improvise!"  
  
"You don't improvise in food, that results in something called Salmon-"  
  
Ella E walked into the kitchen, looking exhausted, worn, tired, and annoyed.  
  
"Ella E!" Monty finished his statement. "What a nice surprise! We were hoping you'd sleep in."  
  
"We were going to make breakfast for you." Drak said, holding up a frying pan.  
  
"If some clumsy moron's wouldn't break the glasses." Caleb said, crossing his arms and looking at Colt.  
  
"Don't call me a Moron, shorty! I bet you wouldn't even have to lean over to pick those up!" Colt said angrily, blushing furiously.  
  
Ella E surveyed the scene through blurry eyes as she sat on a chair pulled out by a overly-helpful Monty. Colt was dressed in her fathers pajamas, striped both ways. Caleb was dressed in her old night-shirt with some shorts she had leant him, and both Monty and Drak were wearing some long shirts and pants. There was a broken glass on the floor, the counter was a mess, and the Mewtwo was sitting on the table, it's body glowing bright blue as various silverware floated over near the table, surronded by the glowing light. Eclipse was fluttering above, directing the silverware to it's correct position.  
  
"Nya..." the Nyashock yawned loudly and fell asleep beneath her stool, trying to ignore the whole spectacle. Ella E rubbed her head.  
  
"It's a nice thought, I must say." she said, feeling more and more exhausted. "But couldn't you at least do this without arguing or breaking anything..."  
  
"I don't think that's possible." Drak said, shoving Monty roughly away from the oven as he placed his pancakes in. Monty was deeply offended.  
  
"How the heck did you learn how to make pancakes anyway in a CAVE!?" Monty said, trying to move Drak out of the way. The Black-haired boy refused to move, however.  
  
"Mewtwo read someone's mind and told me how." he said. He closed the oven. Monty sniffed.  
  
"Well, do what you want, I'm making eggs. They're gonna be the best eggs you ever tasted, Ella E!" Monty said eagerly. Ella E sighed.   
  
In the end, Colt finally sweeped up the glass, swearing under his breath the whole time. In front of Ella E was more food then she would ever eat, including pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, juice, cereal (compliments of Colt), and various fruit. They sat at the table and watched her eagerly. She felt uncomfortable.  
  
"What?"  
  
"What are you going to eat first?" they asked at the same time, then glared at eachother. Ella E looked down. She wasn't sure. She looked back up, then smiled nervously.  
  
"Um...don't you want to eat too?"  
  
She looked at their expressions and realized they hadn't thought of that. She giggled.   
  
"Go ahead and eat. Maybe we can finish this all off."  
  
She took some of every plate and began eating. Noting that none of their food was spurned (even Colts), the boys eagerly ate. During their meal, it was Drak who first broke the silence.  
  
"You know, Ella E..." he said, swallowing. His Mewtwo sat next to him, eating his own share of food under the watchful care of his mother. "Have you gotten a weird feeling lately?"  
  
"Weird feeling?" she said, confused. The others looked at him.  
  
"Yeah...a feeling like something bad is going to happen."  
  
The others looked serious, and then Colt laughed.  
  
"Nothing bad will happen, Drak. Relax." he said. Drak was not convinced.  
  
"I felt it too. It is not a hallucination." the psychic voice of Mewtwo spoke to all of them. Colt continued his comments.  
  
"If you two are connected, then you hallucinate the same stuff." he said, and took another large bite of pancake. The others stared at him, but didn't say anything. Ella E turned back to Drak.  
  
"I haven't felt anything, but then again I've been too tired." she said. She put her left arm on the table, and Static loudly complained. "I couldn't feel much of anything last night."  
  
"Neither could I, sleeping in that stupid chair..." Caleb grumbled as he ate. No one payed attention to him.  
  
"I don't know what to do about it though..." Drak said, more to himself then anyone else. "I don't think I can make whatever is causing this feeling to go away...it feels BAD..."  
  
Colt was getting frustrated at Drak's moody manner. "Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the side-board this morning." Colt said, looking at Drak.  
  
Drak was surprised to find himself more hurt then he expected that no one believed him. He pushed his plate away and stood up.  
  
"It's okay if you don't believe me, I didn't think you would..." Drak said quietly, walking out of the room.   
  
"Drak, wait!" Ella E said, calling after him.   
  
The Mewtwo, immediately disturbed from it's breakfast, got up and left the room, followed by it's mother.  
  
In the awkward silence that followed, everyone looked at Colt. He looked up, noticed everyone staring at him, and shrugged.  
  
"What?"  
  
They continued staring.  
  
"Okay, that was a bit low, but I didn't think he would take it seriously! I mean, that guys usually as tough as nails! He usually never gets angry or upset like that!"  
  
They still stared, and Colt realized what they wanted. He rolled his eyes and shoved his plate away in bad grace.  
  
"Fine, fine, I'll go talk to him. Not my fault though, honestly..."  
  
Colt stalked out of the room, finding himself blushing. The others paused, looked at eachother, then resumed eating.  
  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"Vibes"  
  
  
Drak leaned against the door to Ella E's room, looking down at where he had slept the previous night.  
  
Wrong side of the sideboard...Drak thought to himself. Why did that bother him so much? He had slept on dirt and rocks for most of life...why was the casual reference to sleeping in the hallway bothering him?  
  
He thought hard, but couldn't quite grasp what kept flitting in and out of comprehension.  
  
"Are you okay?" the voice of his friend spoke in his mind. Drak let his physical self go and retreated to the mental bond that he and Mewtwo both shared. It was peaceful there...Drak felt as though here, whatever had made him feel so jumpy last night would not only have to deal with him, but with his friend.  
  
Drak was surronded by darkness, pure and black. That was how he envisioned his mind as he waited for Mewtwo to make the connection. He did some idle flips in the air, and watched as the darkness faded to let a glowing blue figure come towards him. The Mewtwo smiled at him, a expression that was not used very often.  
  
"You seem troubled, and not because of the presence we felt." The Mewtwo said, his mouth moving along with his words. Here, in their minds, anything was possible. Drak sighed, leaning back on what appeared to be a solid clump of shadow.  
  
"It's not the presence that bothers me, but the fact they don't believe that it's there. That's not quite it either..." Drak said, frustrated at his in-ability to speak. The Mewtwo regarded him carefully.  
  
"I think what is hurting you is that they do not trust you enough to take your warning's to heart." The Mewtwo said. Drak blinked. As usual, The Mewtwo had hit the nail on the head.  
  
"But why was I hurt at the side-board comment?" he asked, as if he were a small child asking a question of a teacher who was full of answers. Since the two were connected, they felt what the other felt. It was useful when one was confused, because the other could provide some insight.  
  
"I wouldn't know..." The Mewtwo raised a paw to it's face, thinking hard. "I'm not sure. Perhaps it was not the comment itself, but the fact that Colt said it?"  
  
"Why would that matter?" Drak said, thinking himself. The Mewtwo gestured, and something appeared. As usual, in this semi-dream state, Mewtwo could alter reality to it's will. A small disk appeared, and from it a hologram of Colt. Mewtwo studied this carefully. It revolved, and he and his friend stared at it.  
  
"I believe it is because Colt is naturally the one everyone looks to for protection, considering he is the most physically able. Since I am usually away from the group and my recent disability..."  
  
"Ours...and it's only a limp." Drak said, but he didn't mean the words. He felt sometimes like his whole leg was asleep, and then would wake up with the pricking pins-and-needles feeling customary to such. Other times it would feel like there was a inch of some substance covering his leg, making him feel odd, but there would be nothing there. Other times his leg felt like it was made of lead and wouldn't respond. There hadn't been any improvement in a week, and he was beginning to wonder whether his leg would be like that for the rest of his life. It made him feel even more useless.  
  
"Sometimes, Mewtwo, I feel-" Drak said, sighing and leaning back.  
  
"I know. You feel as if I am the only reason they keep you around. Because I, a Mewtwo, am a valuable asset in battle. You feel like a...how would Colt say it? A third wheel, I believe."  
  
The Dark-Haired boy nodded, looking thoughtful.  
  
"You were saying about Colt." Drak said, prompting the Mewtwo, who was still studying the holograph. He pointed to it.  
  
"You believe that if Colt were to believe you, then the rest would follow suit. This would reduce the risk because everyone is aware and Colt would be able to, most likely, take care of the agressors without my help. Unfortunatly, Colt doesn't seem to believe you, and this makes the others unbelieving too."  
  
"What can I do? Does this...thing that's coming have to do something to us for them to believe me?" Drak said sarcastically. However, his Mewtwo nodded seriously.  
  
"I believe so. This does not bode well at all."  
  
Surprised that his friend took him seriously, Drak shivered as he remembered the feeling in full force.  
  
"Drak!" Someone said near him, and someone put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
Drak turned around rapidly, his eyes flashing back to their normal color. It was Colt. Drak tried to hide the fact he was startled.  
  
"Yes?" Drak said in his customary flat way. It was a tone he had learned from his Mewtwo a long time ago, a sound that was devoid of any feelings or any way of identifing how the speaker was reacting. Colt, who was used to this, shrugged.  
  
"Just wanted to say Sorry." he said awkwardly. Colt looked past Drak at something else, not wanting to make Eye contact.  
  
"Sorry for what?"  
  
"Sorry for that comment...I didn't know you would take it so seriously. It was just a joke."  
  
"A joke..." Drak said, looking distracted. Colt would see a faint glimmer of blue in his eyes and knew that Drak was considering re-connecting the mental link with his friend. Colt poked Drak, and the faint glow faded.  
  
"No way, you're not talking to it again until you accept my apology." Colt said, feeling slightly proud with himself at what he considered to be a rather well constructed sentence. Drak rolled his eyes.  
  
"I won't accept it until you believe me."  
  
"Drak, wouldn't someone else of felt it if it was that strong?" Colt said, still refusing to accept this phantom feeling from nowhere.  
  
"Everyone else was asleep."  
  
"For that matter, why were you awake?" Colt said suspiciously. Drak looked off to one-side, looking slightly uncomfortable.  
  
"I'm a night person...I usually stay up far past the rest of you, looking out into the night."  
  
"Really? I could of sworn-"  
  
"I take a small nap along with you, but I usually wake up during the night to go outside."  
  
"You go outside?" Colt said, surprised. Drak shook his head.  
  
"Not this time. I stayed near the window. I didn't want to go outside because I had a feeling that's what..IT...wanted me too..."  
  
"What's It, Drak? Do you even know?" Colt said, getting slightly annoyed at the boys slightly emotionless nature. Drak was getting annoyed at the fact that Colt was asking him all these questions that he didn't consider pertinent to the situation.  
  
"If I did, I could tell you where to go to take care of it. But I don't know what it is except that it's close, it's bad, and it's coming for one of us."  
  
"Wait wait wait...coming for one of US? Is it Ella E?" Colt clenched a fist, looking slightly angry at his last statement. "They aren't taking her...not over my dead body..."  
  
Drak interrupted him before Colt went into his regular cursing fit. "I don't know who it's coming for. It wasn't one of us, I don't know who. It's coming soon though. We have to be careful."  
  
"Drak, listen. Who would want one of us? We're just three boys, a girl, and a bunch of Pokémon."  
Drak suddenly felt as if something lit in his brain, revealing the answer of what they could want. Then, just as he focused inward to look at it more closely, it faded. He was frustrated at his in-ability to remember his flash of inspiration. During this, Colt looked at Drak oddly.  
  
"You're just imagining it. Listen, if you feel it again, wake me up and I'll tell you whether I feel it or not."  
  
"Are you sure?" Drak said, looking cautious. Colt looked at him strangely.  
  
"What? Is there something wrong with that?"  
  
"You happen to kick people if they try to wake you up, you know."  
  
Colt looked angry.  
  
"Then be careful. If you really want to prove this feeling is real, you'll take that chance, right? Now go back and finish your breakfast." With that, Colt walked back to the kitchen.  
  
Drak's eyes glew blue for a moment, his mouth muttering silent words. He nodded, and walked after Colt.  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"Truth"  
  
  
Drak was wakened by a soft voice speaking to him. Falling asleep in the chair near the window, the area that was now left open as Caleb had fought viciously for rights to Ella E's parent's previous bedroom, was something he enjoyed much more then the hallway. He just leaned back, covered himself with a quilt, and he fell asleep almost instantly. There was something comforting about not laying fully down, but sleeping sitting up. It was as if nothing could surprise him as he was in a good position for defense.  
  
As usual, his sleep had been dreamless. Drak had never had dreams ever since he had met the Mewtwo. The constant use of his mind had rid it of the freedom most people felt when they slept. As others slept, their minds would gain free-reign and create wild fantasies, regardless of logic and reason. Drak had honed his mind through the constant psychic activity that it was almost as if his brain had forgotten to run by itself when he was asleep. Now it only waited for him to wake up, keeping the mental link open. Naturally, when the soft voice spoke, Drak believed it to be his Mewtwo. Who else would be awake?  
  
"Mewtwo..." his eyes glowed a faint blue, the sign of a not properly-established link, primarily because of his weariness. "Why are you awake?"  
  
No response.  
  
Too sleepy to ponder this, Drak tried harder. "Mewtwo?"  
  
No response.  
  
Slowly, the notion that the person who was speaking might not have been Mewtwo came into his mind and he opened his eyes.  
  
It took a while to adjust to the dark, but Drak was used to it. Living in the darkness for years was what he had done, he was used to such blackness around him when he opened his eyes. The Moon, a slight sliver of white, was shining weak light through the front window where it spilled over the quilt he had over his legs and onto the floor. He looked around the room, cluttered with junk and the various Meowth's that no room was without. Various pictures littered the room, junk was on the floor. They had not obviously expected visitors when he had first arrived here, but the messiness of the living room was something that wasn't of the utmost importance to him. If someone wanted it clean, they would clean it. So far, no one had apparently wanted it clean.  
  
"Mewtwo?" Drak said aloud, wondering whether the Mewtwo had fallen asleep and had accidentally contacted him in a kind of "dream-speak". It was then that Drak decided he would try and listen to what the words were saying and not where they were coming from.  
  
"We're here for the boy..." A soft voice said, sounding like a faint whisper in his mind. It had a slightly humorous accent to it, as if someone was trying to speak seriously when they were suppressing hidden laughter.  
  
"Are you sure he is here?" Another voice said, this one more passive and controlling. The first voice seemed to laugh quietly.  
  
"There is no other place, all evidence leads here...and I can sense the emanations...shall we move now?"  
  
"Let us wait..."  
  
Drak, wondering whether this was a prank his Mewtwo was playing on him, lifted a hand to pull his blanket off and found a Meowth sleeping on him. Drak awkwardly brushed it off, a little too hard for it's liking, and it gave a faint "Meowth!" and ran off. Instantly, all the Meowth's in the room were awake, looking at him with their luminescent eyes. Drak found the sight very frightening.  
  
"I sense something is awake..."  
  
"Is it the boy?"  
  
"...perhaps...let's wait for more..."  
  
Drak could hear the voices, more clear now, as he gingerly stood. He gasped shortly as his leg gave a stab of pain through him. He clutched it and tried to hold his breath. He had forgotten how stubborn his leg could be when he woke up. He focused hard on his mental hearing, but heard nothing. He looked around.  
  
Last night, Colt had explained what the two were trying to do. Since the group mainly trusted Colt, Monty was more then glad (for more reasons then one) to switch places with Colt. Now Colt slept on the couch, his blanket on the floor, his leg over the back of the couch and his head underneath the low slung table that was near it. Drak would have found it comical if he wasn't so concerned over the voices.  
  
"Colt?" he said, inching closer.  
  
"There! It spoke...there is something awake in there. We should move now, before something happens." said the almost amused voice.  
  
The other voice didn't respond. Drak, feeling more anxious then usual, dragged himself to the couch were Colt slept. His leg now didn't respond at all, and he moved awkwardly. In the process, he kicked a Meowth which screeched and ran. The other Meowth's began to stare harder at Drak. He walked over to Colt.  
  
"Colt? Wake up.." he whispered, unable to make his voice higher. In his mind, he could feel the presence of his Mewtwo, obviously awakened by his distress. The strength of this Mewtwo compared to that of the whispery voices was a shock to him and he shivered in spite of himself.  
  
"He is awake and his companion may also be. We must move!" the voice said again. It now sounded concerned. Drak had to strain to hear it, already becoming accustomed to the strength of the Mewtwo.  
  
"Alright, but try to do it quietly."  
  
"Colt!" Drak said, a little more loudly. Colt stirred, placed a hand over his eyes, and grumbled. Drak leaned down to poke him, and then realized the room was darker then it should of been. The only reason for that would be that something was blocking the window. Drak turned slowly, trying to suppress the worry he felt. Strangely enough, Drak didn't feel scared...it was a feeling that he was not accustomed too. He felt only anxiety and worry in case this could turn out badly in Ella E's favor.  
  
Fear was unknown...anxiety was not.  
  
Hovering in front of the window was what looked like a helicopter, but it was strangely silent. It's blades glowed with alternate white and red light. He saw two small forms in the Helicopter, one with large hands and wild hair and the other carrying a pendant. Drak's mouth opened despite his best efforts to stop it, and he watched some dark forms, these appearing human and carrying weapons, quickly approach the window. One cursed.  
  
"He's awake! Quick, load the confinement net!"  
  
"COLT!" Drak shouted, finding his voice. Colt jerked once and as a result, slammed his head into the bottom of the table. This dazed him somewhat, making him unable to respond properly. The figure outside used what looked like a gun and shoved the butt through the glass, causing it to shatter into thousands of glittering fragments. Instantly, every Meowth in the room was gone.  
  
"COOLT!" Drak shouted, trying to back away from the figure that approached him. He came quickly and reached out a hand to grab Drak, but Drak ducked, trying desperatly to get his leg to obey him.  
  
"Drak? What is happening?" The Mewtwo's voice said in his mind. Drak was too busy to reply. Mewtwo sensed the danger and worry in Drak's mind.  
  
"I'm coming! Hold...agh!" Mewtwo made a small cry of pain as, Drak guessed, he stepped on the limp leg they both shared. Drak felt the twinge himself and fell to the ground.  
  
"Don't be difficult!" A distinctly male voice snarled at him from behind the gun.  
  
Colt leapt up, having shaken off the dizziness that came with the blow to the head, and looked at the man with what appeared to be a gun and Drak on the floor.  
  
"Drak? What the-EVERYONE! WAKE UP!" Colt shouted, his strong voice echoing through the house. The Man with the gun cursed loudly.  
  
"We didn't come for you!" he growled at Colt, aiming the gun directly at Drak. Drak tried to scramble to his feet, but his limp and painful leg was not responding. His hand slipped on what felt like a Meowth's yarn ball and his arm gave out, dropping him on the floor. The Man fired, despite Colt's best efforts to stop him, and out of the gun came what appeared to be a large net, glowing with a strange, almost orange-ish light. It gravitated instantly to Drak, although he scrambled to one side, and wrapped itself tightly around his body, preventing further motion. He summoned his mental power to cry for help from Mewtwo, but found in response a burning flash of pain and blackness.  
  
"Get away from him!" Colt said, throwing himself around the man's shoulders. Despite the fact that Colt was rather strong for his age, the Man was far more skilled than he. The Man seemed to regard Colt in amusement, then slammed the gun butt into Colt's forehead. Colt flew backwards across the table, his head bleeding. Colt struggled to regain his senses, but the room was spinning around him and he felt burning, aching pain in his forehead. The Man grabbed the limp bundle that was Drak and laughed scornfully before leaping out the broken window, deftly avoiding the broken shards of glass that marked the bottom of the pane.  
  
Colt tried to regain his senses. The whole room spun around him and was blurred with the pain from his head. He was vaguely aware of the others running into the room, looking dissheveled.  
  
"Colt? Colt, what happened?" he heard Ella E's voice say. She gave a short cry at the sight of the broken window. "The window's broken! Where's Drak?!"  
  
"Look!" A Voice he recognized as Monty's came from near the window.  
  
"Hey! Come back here! They've got Drak!" Caleb's annoying voice came to Colt. Colt tried to stand, but found his muscles refusing to respond. Ella E's horrified voice came from above him.  
  
"Colt! Colt! Oh my god! Your forehead...what'd they do!?"  
  
Colt tried to respond, but found himself falling into blackness.  
  
Caleb dashed across the lawn towards the strangely silent helicopter, chasing the man who carried Drak underneath his arm. Before he could reach him, the Man had hopped in and the Helicopter began to rise. Caleb, unable to see any other option, jumped forward and grabbed the skids.  
  
When you have just been woke from sleep, reflexes and motor skills aren't all they should be. Caleb soon found that out as his sleepy and cold fingers slid from the skid, causing him to fall heavily on the grassy lawn. The Helicopter continued to rise, it's silent blades cutting the air in what seemed to be slow-motion.  
  
"DRAK!" Caleb screamed, raising a hand futiley at the fastly vanishing Helicopter. "COME BACK HERE! LET DRAK GO!"  
  
The night sky was as stubborn on the response as the Helicopter which continued it's silent journey into the rapidly all-consuming night. Caleb watched helplessly as the Helicopter rose further and further away from him.  
  
Monty came to him and helped Caleb up, unable to think of anything comforting to say. Caleb leaned on him thankfully, feeling woozy and weak.  
  
"They've got Drak...what do we do?"  
  
"Right now we can't do anything..." Monty said, finally finding his tongue. He looked up at the night sky, glittering with a uncountable amount of bright stars. Without the moon's bright light, however, the night looked darker then it should have. "First we have to find out who did it and why..."  
  
"Mewww!" there was a angry cry from the house, and the badly-limping Mewtwo stumbled out onto the lawn. He looked up at the sky, noticing the fastly fading black form of the helicopter. Sensing his friends presence vaguely, Mewtwo raised two paws. Instantly, he formed a dark energy ball, crackling with furious blue energy, and sent it towards the Helicopter, hatred gleaming in his normally impassive blue eyes.  
  
Unfortunatly, the Helicopter was too far away to aim properly and the Energy ball sailed off into the distance harmlessly.  
  
The Mewtwo's leg gave in, and he fell to the ground. His eyes glew a furious blue and he began to scream silently. Frustrated, he broke off the one-ended link and stared at the sky where Drak had been taken.  
  
"MEEEEEEEWWWWWW!" The Mewtwo screamed in fury and pain. Monty stared at him and began to walk back to the house, Caleb leaning heavily on him, unable to think of anything to do for the poor Pokémon that had just been robbed of his one true friend.  
  
~~~  
  
Drak felt a stinging pain in his shoulder, and he tried to respond. His body felt like lead and wouldn't obey his commands. He felt it again, and the blackness in front of him began to fade. He tried to focus blurry eyes on the person who kept hurting him. The figure looked at a taller, stronger one, one who seemed to be regarding Drak carefully. Both were shrouded in darkness, the result of the inner compartment of what felt like the helicopter's lack of light.  
  
"Why won't he wake up? Is he-" the tall figure said.  
  
"He's not dead, sir. The confinement net was designed for M-2 Specimen B, not a human."  
  
"Why did it react that way?"  
  
"The net is designed, sir, to respond with a powerful shock to anything that tries to use psychic abilities in it's webs. No doubt, this Boy tried to do something of that nature and the net responded as if it were M-2 Specimen B. The shock wasn't designed for humans, sir. It's much too powerful."  
  
"It didn't kill him?"  
  
"If he was able to set off the mechanism, sir, no doubt he was attempting to either contact M-2 Specimen B or some other psychic ability. The net is designed to respond to Mewtwo's level of power...which means the boy must have tried to do something equal in strength, sir. Something with that kind of power wouldn't die from the shock, sir."  
  
"Very good..." the taller, stronger figure said, looking at Drak. Or at least, that's what Drak thought. "Just like we predicted. Are Barrier-D and Surepa asleep?"  
  
"Yes sir. They did a very good job at masking the sound of the Helicopter. Maybe you could consider giving them a day off, sir..."  
  
"Good." The tall figure said, basically ignoring the smaller's comment. The smaller didn't argue. "I don't want them to disturb...the boy." the taller figure said, putting what looked vaguely to Drak like a hand to his chin.  
  
"Do you want him awake, sir? I can use the Tazer again." the smaller figure said, holding some kind of device, it's full appearance shrouded in blackness.  
  
"I...I'm...I'm awake..." Drak managed to whisper, hoping they heard him. The first figure smiled.  
  
"Good, good. He's already awake. Good sign. I don't want to talk to him yet, he's still too groggy to answer any questions. He'll just get confused."  
  
"Where are you, Mewtwo?" Drak cried mentally, retreating frantically to the space in his mind he and his Pokémon shared. "I need you to help me...I'm trapped!"  
  
There was no reply, and Drak began to feel panic. He had never been without his friend's presence.  
  
"Fascinating, sir!" the second figure said, looking at him. Something glinted on his face, no doubt a pair of glasses. "The illumination of the eyes is a trait common to those who train psychic Pokémon. Blue is a special color only reserved to the M-2 Series, however. No doubt he is trying to contact M-2 Specimen B. Look how brightly it shines! They must have a strong link. This is absolutely amazing, sir."  
  
The first figure didn't look too impressed. "Give him to Teishi when we get back for him to take care of. Make sure nothing happens to him."  
  
"Yes, sir." the second figure said, scribbling something on what appeared to be his lab-coat sleeve. The First Figure looked annoyed.  
  
"Must you do that? It costs money to get your coats cleaned."  
  
"Was I doing it again, sir? I'm sorry, sir, it won't happen again." the Second figure said, sounding embarrassed. The first figure walked out of the room. Drak began to wonder what exactly was going on. But the Second Figure poked him with something, and all Drak felt after the prick was a deepening loneliness as he faded into unconciousness. 


	2. Teishi

Chapter 4  
  
"Results"  
  
  
"Hey...hey, are you awake, sir?"   
  
A voice pentrated the thick haze that hung over Drak. He couldn't remember anything about what happened. He reached into his mind to ask Mewtwo if he remembered...  
  
And found instead a empty blackness.  
  
Confused, Drak opened his eyes, trying to figure out what was happening. He found himself staring into a large pair of green eyes.  
  
"Hello?" the person said. Drak jumped up, trying to penetrate the fog. His original plan was to jump backwards but ,due to the weakness and weariness of his limbs, Drak only succeeded in rolling into the wall. He felt cold metal, and he made a surprised noise.  
  
"Don't move much, sir! Don't worry, the feeling will pass. It's a side-effect. I guess you are awake then, sir."  
  
Drak panted on the bed, feeling utterly alone. The Mewtwo was not responding...it was as if someone had removed him from the link that the two shared. He had never experienced this before...not before he could remember. This was frightening...and Drak began to wonder if the shivering he was feeling was because of the cold he now felt or fear.  
  
"Can you sit up, sir?" the voice asked again. Drak, not knowing what else to do, attempted to sit up. He leaned heavily to one side and hit the wall again, but managed to stay upright. He tried to focus his eyes.  
  
"You got a shot of a drug that's meant for...something else." the person said, sounding apolegetic. "It's not designed for humans, so that's probably why you're feeling weird, sir."  
  
Drak's eyes began to focus and a more distinct picture began to form of the person in his room.  
  
"Who...are you?" Drak said, his tongue feeling heavy and clumsy in his mouth.  
  
"My name is Teishi, sir, and I'll be your care-taker while your staying with us, sir." the person said cheerily. Drak leaned forward, trying to get a good view, and suddenly his vision snapped back into clarity.  
  
It was a boy, looking about his age. He had blond hair, tyed back in a loose, short ponytail that ended above his shoulders. He had bright green eyes, a innocent face, and what seemed to be a kind of wristwatch fastened to his upper arm. He was wearing a shirt that had no sleeves, having apparently been torn off, and some loose pants. He seemed almost sad, but smiled brightly at Drak.  
  
"Where am...where am I?" Drak said, getting some more control over his body. Teishi looked thoughtful, loose strands of blond hair falling in front of his eyes.  
  
"You're...um...I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you, sir. They told me that I was supposed to help you...what was the word they used? Acclimate, I think, to the surrondings, sir. They wanted to make sure you were...responsive I think...to the questions, sir."  
  
"Who's they?" Drak said, rubbing his cold arms. Teishi noticed this.  
  
"Are you cold, sir? Do you want a sweater? I'll get you one, sir, if we have one. Or maybe a blanket? Would that do, sir?" Teishi said, his voice changing tone. Drak stared at him. Teishi's new tone was something almost as if he wanted to impress Drak. It bothered him.  
  
"It would be nice if I could get a wool blanket...and stop calling me sir." Drak said, trying to focus his eyes. Teishi, evidently worried that if he spoke he would call Drak sir again, nodded and left the room. As Drak stared at the floor, he heard a heavy metal door close and some spinning. Looking up quickly, he saw a large, metal door in one wall, no doubt where Teishi had gone to get him what he had asked. Taking this opportunity to observe his surrondings, Drak stood on his un-easy feet.  
  
How long had he been in here? How long did it take him to get here? Where was he? Who was he? He felt as though the seperation of his Mewtwo from him had stolen a vital part of him. It was always well-known, or so he liked to think, to others that he and his Mewtwo shared one mind. Mewtwo's personality affected his and his affected the Mewtwo. They had never been seperated...not even the constraints of the Pokéball Mewtwo was in in-frequently disturbed their mental rapport. Drak began to wonder who he was, really. It was almost as if he had forgotten his identity and the one person who knew was no longer in his life.  
  
Drak looked around the room. It was lit by a dim, yellow light embedded in the ceiling. Drak stretched awkwardly and felt a consistant ache in his back. When he looked back at where he had been sleeping, he saw that it was what looked like a Metal table attached to the wall. Drak shivered. The room was cold, colder then natural. His feet felt tender and sore as they touched the cold floor. Drak noticed the room seemed to be made of the same material, a dull, silver metal. There were no decorations, no furnishings, no windows, no coverings. It was as bare as...  
  
An operating room.  
  
Drak shivered again and sat on the strange table where he had been asleep. He tried to re-collect his thoughts, but only found vague clues and the names Surepa and Barrier-D in his head. He didn't understand what happened to him...the last thing he remembered was the large man standing over him, pointing what looked like a gun at him. Something fired...he remembered screams. Colt's?  
  
Something instantly appreared in his scattered mind. Ella E. Drak instantly slipped into a dark depression. Ella E was gone...would he ever see her again?  
  
Drak found, to his dismay, that he was more concerned over whether she would pick one of the boys while he was gone. He sighed. He knew that someone like Ella E would never choose someone like him. Someone who didn't even know his name...someone who didn't even know his parents or anything of society until a few months ago. Someone who was never alone because there was a constant presence in his mind. Why would she choose him? What possible chance did he have?  
Drak's depression grew and he began to wonder how he could have possibly tried so futily for her attentions. Colt was strong...Monty was smart...Caleb was an old friend. Who was he? Just a person who she happened to beat and wanted to come along with her...a chance meeting where Drak found himself becoming greatly affectionate towards her. He even remembered when he was about to admit how he felt and Colt had beaten him to it. Colt surpassed him in every possible way. Why was he even trying for Ella E?  
  
Because you love her...a small voice in his head said. It doesn't matter if you're in love.  
  
Drak shook his head. It did matter...it mattered if he wasted his life trying for something impossible.  
  
Drak felt lonely and dejected. He didn't know where he was and most likely neither did anyone else. He would probably never get rescued....and Ella E would continue with her life. Maybe someday, around a dinner table with her chosen husband and friends, she would vaguely remember something about a guy named Drak who had a crush on her...  
  
"I'm back, sir!" Teishi said, walking in with a cheerful grin. He had a pile of blankets and some pillows in his arms. Noticing Drak curled into a ball in a corner, looking depressed, Teishi nearly dropped the blankets. He dashed over, kneeling and throwing several blankets over him.  
  
"Oh! Oh sir, oh no! You're not supposed to be unhappy! You're supposed to be adjusting sir! Oh, this is all my fault! Oh, sir!" Teishi said, sounding genuinely distressed. Drak began to feel guilty for making this boy so sad.  
  
"It's not your fault...I was...thinking of something sad."  
  
"Sit down! Please sit down and try not to be so sad, sir! They'll be very unhappy!" Teishi said, lifting Drak to his feet and pushing him towards the bed. Drak was surprised at the fear in his voice.  
  
As soon as Drak was near the foot of the bed, Teishi spread some blankets and made a surprisingly normal looking bed out of the operating table. He made some last minute changes to the pillow positions and looked at Drak pleadingly.  
  
"Please, sir, please sit and tell me you won't feel sad!"  
  
"It's fine..." Drak said, sitting down as Teishi looked relieved. "And stop calling me sir."  
  
"Of course, sir! It's a habit, I've called everyone sir or madam since I was born, sir. What would you prefer?"  
  
"Drak..." Drak looked down at his hands, feeling weak.   
  
"Sorry Si-...Drak." Teishi said with some effort, placing some pillows around Drak carefully.   
  
"I'm very used to it-"  
  
Drak grabbed Teishi's arm, noticing how he flinched at his touch. On Teishi's arm there were a number of angry-looking bruises, going from his wrists to his fore-arm, stopping at the apparent watch-band attached there.  
  
"What happened to you?" Drak said. Teishi blushed nervously and pulled his arms away, hiding them behind his back.  
  
"Nothing! Nothing! Um...please, tell me anything you need, Si-...Drak." Teishi said. Drak could tell from his tone that Teishi was begging him not to ask anymore. Drak couldn't understand why, but nodded anyway. He then remembered his original question, before Teishi had left.  
  
"Who's...'They'?" Drak said, looking side-long at Teishi, who looked very uncomfortable. He looked thoughtful again, distractedly putting his hands behind his head and fixing the string that bound his ponytail.  
  
"They...um...they run this establishment, sir." Teishi said. Drak began to notice that when Teishi was uncomfortable, he couldn't help using the word "Sir" as much as possible. "I...work here...They want to ask you some questions."  
  
"How long will I stay here?" Drak asked, getting to the point. Teishi looked even more uncomfortable.  
  
"Well, sir...it's hard to say...they want to ask you some...things, sir. If you answer correctly, sir, then you can go. I think...I'm not clear on the details, sir, they don't tell me much in my position."  
  
"What position is that?" Drak said suspiciously. Teishi looked off to one-side for the first time they had started talking. Drak was disturbed originally to find that when Teishi talked his eyes focused directly into his, never leaving for one moment. But now...he looked off at the wall. He looked at his arm.  
  
"......I've got to go, sir, they need me to do something. I'll be back, sir, just call me if you need anything. Goodbye, sir!"  
  
With that, Teishi ran out of the cell, slamming the door shut behind him before Drak could even stand to try and escape. Drak wondered why Teishi had reacted that way. Assuming that he didn't understand because of his un-familiarity with human nature, he leaned back.  
  
Closing his eyes, he again went into the space in his mind he and the Mewtwo shared. It remained stubbornly empty. Drak began to wonder whether he would ever talk to his friend again. Drak frantically screamed mentally to the Mewtwo, and got no response from it.  
  
However, he did get one from something else.  
  
"Stop shouting! You'll deafen us!" a familiar voice said in his mind. Wondering why it was so soft, Drak lowered the volume of his psychic voice.   
  
"Who are you?" he asked. He could feel the other voice wincing...apparently he was still so loud.   
  
"We're some workers here that are sensitive to psychic enamanations." A lighter, happier voice said in his head. Drak struggled to remember, and it came to him. Before he had been brought here, he heard these voices speaking.  
  
"Are you Barrier-D and Surepa?"  
  
There was a slight pause before he got a response.  
  
"How do you know our names?" the slower one said. Drak thought.  
  
"They just kept repeating in my head...I didn't think they would be you. Who are you?"  
  
"You already asked that..." the lighter voice said, snickering.  
  
"I think he means in terms of names." the more serious voice said. "Very well, I am Surepa, and this is Barrier-D. Who are you? Are you the boy we brought in before?"  
  
"Where am I!?" Drak said, releasing a burst of fury he hadn't previously felt before he realized that these were the two who had taken Mewtwo away. "You took me from my only friend!"  
  
"Please! Stop shouting!" Barrier-D said, sounding as if it were in pain.  
  
"Shouting? I only raised my voice a little."  
  
"You know what this means?" Surepa said to Barrier-D, sounding surprised.   
  
"Yes! He must have incredibly power!"  
  
"I can still hear you, you know." Drak said, feeling angry. Barrier-D and Surepa sounded surprised.  
  
"We have to break off the communication..." Surepa said, sounding awkward. "We're not supposed to be talking to you."  
  
"What...?"  
  
"Bye!" Barrier-D said, and then they were gone. Drak searched his mind but found no trace of the pair. Curious, Drak began to think about his encounter. They did not register in his mind as images like Mewtwo...he could only hear the voices...and even they sounded soft. He heard the door to his cell being opened, and turned to see two men with the same gun-like weapons and a women in a lab-coat. She looked in surprise at his sparse furnishings, then gestured at him. The two men shouldered their weapons and walked towards Drak. Drak backed away.  
  
"Don't be frightened. We want to ask you some questions." the woman said in a clipped tone. Drak wasn't about to listen to another scientist and kept backing away. The room wasn't endless, however, and soon Drak was cornered. One of the men took each of his arms and lifted him easily off the ground. The woman began walking away, her sneakers hitting the floor softly, and Drak began to wonder what kind of questions they had in mind. Looking off to one side, he noticed Teishi standing next to the door. He smiled weakly and Drak smiled back until he noticed a tall figure behind Teishi. The figure grabbed Teishi's shoulder roughly and dragged him off. Drak was about to say something, but then the movement of the group stopped in front of a door.  
  
"Here we are." the woman said, punching some numbers in a code pad. Drak closed his eyes, searching frantically for his friend, but only found the same emptiness that now pervaded his being.  
  
They stepped into the room.  
  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"Guilt"  
  
  
Colt could not help but feel responsible.  
  
No matter what the others told him or reassured him that there was nothing he could of done, Colt still felt that it was his fault. Drak was gone...dissapeared without a trace. Even the formidable power of the Mewtwo could not locate Drak in his current location. Colt began to wonder whether or not he would ever see Drak again. Out of the four that followed Ella E constantly, it was Drak who he had identified with most. Drak didn't have good manners, much like him, and Drak didn't care for others feelings. Drak had been abandoned when he was young...just like him...  
  
Colt sighed and forced the train of thought from his head. He didn't want to think about that anymore. He didn't want to think of what really happened...he couldn't even bring himself to tell the person he loved the truth. Colt sat up on Atelli's bed, thinking. Why hadn't he been able to tell Ella E the truth in that, now that he thought about it, highly romantic situation? Why had he told her something that had obviously sounded fake?  
  
Because he couldn't think of something that would sound convincing...he thought. He could never make up good stories...he was, by nature, a direct person and dancing around an issue was something he didn't enjoy doing. He wanted to approach this directly.  
  
That was what was so bothersome about Drak's dissapearance. When someone did something to him, Colt liked to be able to do something about it. Usually attack the person back (physically or emotionally). But now....Colt couldn't do anything. They had no clues, no leads. No way to find Drak. He was gone without a trace and that meant Colt's hands were tied.  
  
He flopped back down on the bed, frustrated. From the shelf above him, a small object fell and hit him in the face. Vaguely annoyed (the object was not very damaging), Colt picked it up and looked at it.  
  
It was a stuffed doll of a person with flaring purplish hair and bluish skin. Underneath the person's eyes were marks of grey. Also near his nose and chin the grey fabric appeared. The doll was clothed in white with a cloak fastened with a small red stone. At his side, there was a felt sword. Colt looked around the room, seeing posters and pictures of the same person plastered all over the walls. He knew who this person was. His name was Zelgadis (that's what it said on one of the posters) and Atelli was very obviously obsessed with him. There were CD's around with his picture on him. Colt began to wonder who this person was. He was fairly sure he didn't exist (probably a television character) but he had never heard of him before he stepped in this mainly blue and purple room. He pressed the dolls hand, and it spoke in a japanese accent. "Astral Vine!"  
  
Colt put the doll on the nightstand. He wondered why this man had a blue face and purple hair and those grey markings. Maybe he could get Ella E to tell him later. Ella E seemed to avoid the topic of her sister.  
  
Colt leaned back on the bed, placed his hands behind his head, and thought. Ever since he came here, he was plagued with doubt. What did Ella E really want? Was it him? She never showed any signs towards him that she liked him, like she used to...  
  
Or he imagined she used to.  
  
Colt sighed. He didn't want to deal with this like this...stand by idly while the others fought for her attention. He didn't want to have to sit back and let her choose herself. He wanted to do it directly and forcefully. Sweep her in his arms, give her a big kiss, and tell her that he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. No complications, no others, no problems. Just a statement of how he felt without any feelings of guilt or resentment. He couldn't do that, however...the others...they were his friends. He didn't want to hurt them. But he loved Ella E so much...what could he do...  
  
Colt's eyes narrowed as he thought about Caleb. He didn't care about Caleb. He hoped that Ella E would never choose him. But he knew, to his despair, that Caleb had as much a chance as he as winning Ella E for himself. He hated that. He hated Caleb's superior nature...his haughty commands to tell him to go somewhere or bring him something. Sitting in a chair and having Caleb come and tell him to get up, as if expecting him to really do it.  
  
Colt didn't want to seem immature...he wanted to appear willing and ready...he wanted to appear as sure as himself as Monty was. So when Ella E would walk by after Caleb's commands, Colt would reluctantly get up to try and show Ella E how good he was. She never seemed to notice.  
  
Drak would always back him up when Caleb started getting cruel. Caleb had no idea how much his words hurt Colt. Being called "Scum" was not something that Colt would ever get used to. It hurt...But Drak...Drak would always tell Caleb to back off, tell him to lay off. Colt really appreciated that...someone was actually sticking up for him instead of pushing him back down.  
Colt dwelled on that. He was always being pushed down by other people...but his strength had allowed him to resist (to a point) and survive to the level that he could never leave. The level below everyone else...including the one he loved. But Drak...Drak was the one who elevated him past that level...or would join him there. Drak hadn't made fun of the cereal he had made for Ella E...  
  
Colt raised a hand to his head and felt the thick bandage that now went around it. The injury to his head had turned out not to be serious ("Pity." Caleb had said) and Colt only had to wear the bandage for a few weeks. Now and then when he stood up he would feel a little dizzy, but other then that the effects were minimal....physically. The wound reminded him of his in-ability to protect his friends. Before...fighting Reimia and Tashi...and Kame and Max...he had been able to protect them the best he had. He had won the battle...but now he had lost. And someone that was important to all of them was taken away...and Colt couldn't shake the feeling it was his fault.  
Colt was tired. He didn't like all this thinking. As he he had thought to himself before, he liked to things directly without a lot of thinking. So this effort tired him. Feeling uncomfortable with getting underneath Atelli's covers (he had covered himself with a quilt in the last few nights he had slept in here), he curled on one side and closed his eyes. Soon, he entered his dreams.  
  
Colt was dreaming rather quietly about wandering in the empty streets of the town (Colt was never very imaginative) when he heard a strong voice in his mind.  
  
"Can I speak with you?"  
  
Colt turned around abruptly and the street ended. Where it had once continued behind him it fuzzed into indistinction. Standing in the place of a lamp-post, Mewtwo looked at him.  
  
"What do you want?" Colt said, feeling slight resentment at this intrusion in his mind. The Mewtwo's mouth did not move, his face frozen and creased with what looked like lines of worry. He obviously was in a lot of emotional pain since Drak's dissapearance.  
  
"Tell me everything you saw before I came to Drak's aid." the Mewtwo spoke telepathically to Colt. Colt looked at the Mewtwo, again feeling strong pangs of guilt.  
  
"I didn't see much. Drak...shouted my name, and I hit my head on the table..." Colt put a hand on his head, surprised to find it perfectly normal, before he remembered that he was dreaming. He looked at the Mewtwo curiously, but his expression remained the same pained one.  
  
"And." The Mewtwo said, sounding more like a demand then a question. Colt began to feel even more uncomfortable.  
  
"I managed to stand up and...I saw a man."  
  
The Mewtwo's eyes flashed.  
  
"What did he look like?"  
  
"I couldn't tell!" Colt said, with growing frustration. "He was just dark, okay? What's the phrase you would use? Shrouded in Blackness or something. I couldn't see anything except his gun..."  
  
"Gun?"  
  
"Well...it looked like a gun, but I think it was modified or something...I'm not sure what it was, exactly. It fired a net at Drak...a weird, glowy one."  
  
"What did you do?" The Mewtwo's tone remained impassive.  
  
"I...I tried to stop the guy. I ran and jumped on him, but the net homed in on him...there was nothing I could do. Then the guy slammed his gun in my head and knocked me across the table...I can't remember much after that...." Colt said, thinking hard.  
  
The Mewtwo stood quietly, no emotion registering on his face. Finally, he turned and began to walk away.  
  
"It's not your fault." The Mewtwo said, and then he flashed out of the dream. Colt stared after it, confused. The street re-assembled itself where it had once stood, and Colt scratched his head, not sure of what to do. He didn't feel like wandering anymore...but he had no control over his dream. Not sure of what to expect, Colt chose a random direction and walked that way, hoping to find a new purpose on that road.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"  
  
A sharp scream cause Colt to jump to his feet on the bed instantly. Confused by the softness of the bed's surface, Colt immediately fell on his back, then bounced onto the floor with a heavy thump.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The scream was high-pitched and shrill, almost as if it were in indignation then fear. Colt's head began to throb, half from the injury and half from the scream. Colt poked his head over the bed, and the girl in the door stopped, looking horrified. There was an awkward pause.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM!?" the girl shrieked again. Colt, having recently woken up, couldn't think of any polite way to put it.  
  
"Ella E said I could sleep in here cause we ran out of beds." Colt said. The girl paused, then looked horrified again.  
  
"ELLA E!?" she said, sounding surprised. "ELLA EEEEEE!" she then screamed, sounding furious. "WHO SAID YOU COULD GO IN MY ROOM!?!"  
  
"Your room?" Colt said, swearing he could see the walls shaking. Another Zelgadis doll fell from the shelf and hit him in the head. "Are you Atelli?"  
  
The girl saw the doll. Then she seemed to melt. She dashed towards Colt, grabbed the doll, and hugged it furiously. Colt stood by awkwardly, not sure what to do.  
  
"Oooh, my Zelly! My Zelly-Candy! My Zelly-Chan! My Zelga-bunny!" she cooed to the doll, smoothing it's hair. "I haven't seen you in so long!"  
  
"Are you Atelli?" Colt repeated. The girl turned, as if remembering he was there, and then blinked.  
  
"Who are YOU?"  
  
"Tell me who you are first." Colt sat on the bed and put a hand on his head, massaging his temples. His head was aching.  
  
"Get off MY bed! This is MY room, tell me what YOU'RE doing in here!" the girl pushed him roughly off and straightened the bedspread. "And yes, I AM Atelli, and THIS is my room."  
  
"That's all I wanted to know." Colt muttered to himself. Atelli turned to him.   
  
"Now, tell me why you're sleeping in MY room and why my SISTER gave you permission!"  
  
Colt sat down and explained the whole story as best as he could (considering his head-ache made it hard to think). Atelli kept quiet during the whole thing, looking very serious and patting the Zelgadis doll on the head.  
  
"I think I will talk with Ella E when she comes home." Atelli said in a odd voice. Colt felt a tinge of danger in her tone.  
  
"If you hurt her, I'll kill you." he said. Atelli looked at him.  
  
"Are you serious?" she said, laughing. She stopped when she saw Colt nodding. She changed her expression to one of doubt.  
  
"Could you really kill someone?" Atelli said doubtfully, glancing at him. He was dressed in her Dad's clothes. "What are you, a Rocket or something?"  
  
She began laughing again until she saw Colt nod again. She gulped. She got off the bed, holding the Zelgadis doll close to her, and backed out the room. She paused in the doorway.  
  
"Well...I guess you can stay for a while..." she said nervously, and shut the door.  
  
Colt was confused and just flopped back on the bed, holding his head and groaning.  
  
"BUT YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH MY STUFF!" Atelli's sudden scream came through the room, and Colt rolled off the bed again. Another Zelgadis doll came from the shelf and hit him in the face as Atelli slammed the door viciously. 


	3. Dowasure

Chapter 6  
  
"Questions"  
  
  
Drak was roughly shoved into a chair. Judging that it would not be wise to anger the two men who had put him there, Drak sat without complaint.  
  
The Scientist who had escorted him in went to what looked like a speaker in the wall and spoke softly into it for a moment. Then she nodded to the men and walked out of the room. They nodded back.  
  
Drak looked around. He didn't like the look of this whole place...it was too cold and distant. It was almost as if this place did not want to think about feelings, but only of results.  
  
Drak didn't have much time to think as a door slid open in the opposite wall and another scientist walked out, this one male. He wore very large glasses from behind which shone two large, intelligent brown eyes and a smudged labcoat. His pockets were over-flowing with notes and other various equipment and he carried a clipboard and a batch of notecards. He had long, unkempt black hair, kept back in a tight ponytail that went all the way down his back. He seemed slightly nervous, yet fascinated with Drak. He placed his possessions on the table and walked over to him.  
  
Drak felt himself longing to speak to Mewtwo, ask him to make this Scientist go away...asking for his assistance. He remembered that Mewtwo was gone from his mind, and the inexorable depression settled on him again. The depression was deep and almost tangible...a feeling that he had lost a part of him. Thinking of Mewtwo never ceased to cause him this depression. However, he didn't want to give in to his urge and scream for Mewtwo...that would be just what all these people wanted. To watch his eyes glow blue and study him. Where was he?...Who was he?  
  
"Fascinating! Absolutely Fascinating!" the Scientist had been saying for quite some time. Drak snapped to attention, finding the Scientist poking his arm experimentally. Drak recoiled from his touch and this seemed to make the Scientist very happy for some reason. Seemingly unable to find a piece of paper (although Drak could see the scraps hanging out of his pockets...apparently the Scientist had even forgotten that he HAD those notes with him), the man whipped out a small pencil and began writing busily on the sleeve of his lab-coat. Drak stared, wondering what on earth he was doing. Satisfied, the man walked back to his seat across the small table that Drak was sitting at and stared at Drak. Drak stared back, not sure of what else to do. This continued for some time until the Scientist finally broke off the connection. Drak was relieved.  
  
"So! This is so amazing..." the Scientist mumbled. He looked at Drak and tried to smile disarmingly, but Drak could sense something sinister about his purpose. "I'm here to ask you the questions that we need."  
  
"Who's we? What do you need it for?" Drak said abruptly. The Scientist, instead of being offended, took this as a good sign and scribbled some more on his sleeve. Drak noticed the guard near him rolling his eyes.  
  
"I'm the one asking the questions." The Scientist said after he had finished his notes.  
  
"You could at least tell me who you are." Drak said, not trusting the man. It almost seemed as if the Scientist had to struggle to remember his name.  
  
"I'm Dr. Dowasure." the man said, smiling as if just remembering. "I'm going to be the scientist you'll probably see more often...Dr. Kagakusha does not like this field of research much."  
  
"What research? What are you planning-"  
  
"Ah ah ah!" Dr. Dowasure lifted a hand, signaling silence. Drak, noticing a warning shake of the chair from the man to his left, reluctantly conceded.  
  
"Let's see...he wrote all the questions down for me on these notecards..." Dr. Dowasure said, looking around. The Note-Cards fell to the floor while he looked through his clipboard. "Where could they be?..."  
  
Drak, deciding he might as well help the forgetful man, leaned down to pick up the cards.   
  
Instantly, the two men had grabbed his shoulders and jerked him back. Dr. Dowasure looked ecstatic.  
  
"Oh! This is magnificent! And so early in the session, too! Oh, this will be so promising!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Drak said, crossing his arms. Dr. Dowasure, noticing where Drak had reached, bent down and picked up the spilt cards. He tried to arrange them, but found them out of order. Dr. Dowasure ignored Drak's question and focused on getting the cards in the right order. There was nothing Drak could do but sit and wait. Finally, the Doctor was ready. Drak was bored out of his mind.  
  
"Okay, I think I've got this straight...wait...did he tell me to read the cards or write on the clipboard, or was it the other way around?..." Dr. Dowasure looked around, confused. One of the men thought to speak.  
  
"Sir, I do believe the notepad is for writing, sir. The NoteCards already have writing, sir." The man said smartly. The Doctor smiled again.   
  
"Ah! Of course. Silly of me. Hmmm...first question..." Dr. Dowasure looked down at the card carefully, looked at Drak, and looked down again. "Are they sure this is the right card? This doesn't seem like the correct question to ask-"  
  
"Ask the question, sir." the same guard said again, the impatience in his voice evident. The Doctor seemed oblivous to his annoyance, but took the hint about the question.  
  
"Okay, question one. What is your name?"  
  
Drak, who had been expecting something a little more probing, did a double-take.  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"Absolutely! Please, answer." the Doctor said, obviously scribbling Drak's reaction on his sleeve instead of the notepad.  
  
"My name's Drak." Drak said, feeling incredibly stupid.  
  
"Drak what?" Dr. Dowasure said distractedly as his pencil kept moving. Drak felt awkward.  
  
"...I don't know...I've never had any family except the Mewtwo...I never had a last-"  
  
But at the mention of the Mewtwo Dr. Dowasure almost fell out of the chair. He scrambled back to his previous position, writing furiously.  
  
"The Mewtwo? Is that what you call it? Wonderful! Absolutely fascinating! It raised you, did you say?" the Doctors eyes were shining with curiousity. Drak was beginning to become a little frightened of the scientists over-enthusiasm.  
  
"I didn't SAY that, but it did raise me. The only family I ever had was Mewtwo..." Drak noticed the Doctor twitching at the word "Mewtwo". "It raised me underground in a cave...so I've been up here for only a few months."  
  
"This is great! This is MORE then great! This is more then I could want!" Dr. Dowasure seemed so happy Drak began to become very curious as to exactly why. "A few Months! Perfect!" the Doctor said with a hint of a laugh in his voice.  
  
"Are you going to ask me the next question?"  
  
Dr. Dowasure kept writing. By now, his right sleeve was covered with writing and he was pondering how to write on his left sleeve with his left hand. The Guard rolled his eyes again.  
  
"The Notepad, Doctor. You're supposed to use the Notepad."  
  
"Oh! Oh yes! Thank you." Dr. Dowasure said, smiling brightly. "I keep forgetting. What were we doing?"  
  
"Ask me another question." Drak demanded, his patience wearing thin. The Doctor seemed oblivious to the annoyed presence around him and flipped up a new card.  
  
"Hmmm...interesting phrase...I can see why they chose this..."  
  
"ASK ME THE STUPID QUESTION!" Drak abruptly shouted. The Guards made a half-hearted attempt to restrain him, but Drak could tell they wanted to say it themselves. Dr. Dowasure looked surprised for a moment, then broke into a wide smile.   
  
"This is amazing! I must write this down!" he said. Remembering there was no longer room on his sleeve, he was forced to actually begin writing on the notepad.  
  
"Ask me it." Drak said, lowering his voice.  
  
"Let's see...." the Doctor said, his pencil to his lips and looking thoughtful. "How could I best describe that reaction?"  
  
"Amazing?" Drak said sarcastically. Dr. Dowasure nodded happily and kept writing. Drak reached across the table and grabbed the cards. He handed them to the guard who had spoken before. "Here, YOU ask them."  
  
~~~  
  
By the time they had finally finished the questions, Drak had felt like he had spent a week in the cramped room. During the experience, Dr. Dowasure kept writing frantically as the guard tried to rattle off questions rapidly. Drak answered back just as eagerly, wanting desperatly to escape the little room. After repeated requests that the guard slow down, Dr. Dowasure tried to grab the cards. The guards superior height kept the cards out of the scientist's reach and he sat back down sulkily and kept writing, trying to keep up with everything Drak did.  
  
Finally, the guard threw the last card to the floor and sat down hard. His partner had already dozed off a long time ago. Dr. Dowasure was writing faster then Drak could imagine.  
  
"And thus...the subject...shows increasing..." Dr. Dowasure muttered. Drak managed to catch a few fragments, but nothing revealing.  
  
"What is this all about? Why are you doing this to me?" Drak asked. For once, Dr. Dowasure listened to him.  
  
"Why, my dear boy?" Dr. Dowasure smiled happily. "For science!"  
  
With that, the door slid open and two other guards walked in. Noticing their companions on the floor they immediatly started towards Drak, then noticed Dr. Dowasure sitting and scribbling. They relaxed, rolled their eyes, and dragged their comrades out of the room. Another pair of guards came and grabbed Drak roughly around the arms, lifting him off the chair and likewise off the ground. Dr.Dowasure looked up from his notes, looking concerned.  
  
"Oh! Be careful! Be careful! This is more serious and important then a test tube! We can only get ONE of him!"  
  
Drak stared at him strangely before he was swiftly borne out of the room down the blank and featureless hallways. Dr. Dowasure waved cheerily at him. Drak wanted to give Dr. Dowasure his own gesture...and not one of friendship.  
  
Reaching his "room" took a surprisingly short time compared to the questioning. The Guards, obviously ignoring Dr. Dowasure's request, roughly threw Drak into the room. He slammed into Teishi, who was fixing his bed.  
  
"Oh! Sir!" Teishi said. Drak stood up, brushing himself off. "Sir, I fixed your bed-"  
  
"Why didn't you tell me the questions would be like that?" Drak said angrily, turning on Teishi. Expecting some kind of angry reply, Drak was surprised to find Teishi just stand there, staring directly into his eyes with his own, large green ones. "That experience was one of the longest, most frustrating-"  
  
"Dr. Dowasure." Teishi said simply, his eyes boring into Draks. "Am I correct, sir?"  
  
"Yes!" Drak said, annoyed at Teishi's accurate guess. "And stop calling me Sir! Call me Drak, okay? I'm sick of being treated like a thing!"  
  
With that, Drak threw himself on his newly made bed, feeling angry and sick with himself at the same time. Teishi just stood quietly. Drak began too feel uncomfortable with his back to Teishi...he could feel his eyes staring at him. Drak turned over.  
  
"Well, aren't you going to say something? Did I hurt your feelings?"  
  
"No." Teishi said.  
  
"Well, I ruined your stupid bed! That must make you angry."  
  
"Oh no...Drak. I'm not angry at all. I'm quite used to it."  
  
"Used to it?" Drak looked at Teishi, who was beginning to get the look on his face he had before.  
  
"I'm used to making beds." Teishi said quickly, but Drak could tell he wanted to say something else. Drak continued staring at him.  
  
"Why don't you get some better clothes..." Drak said, turning away from Teishi and pulling a blanket over himself. "That shirt's all ripped up...no sleeves..."  
  
"It's meant to be, Sir." Teishi said. Drak knew for certain now that Teishi was disturbed...he was using the word Sir again. "It's not cold around here, sir."  
  
"It's cold everywhere!" Drak said, anger in his voice.  
  
"Are you angry, sir?" Teishi said. Drak felt annoyed. He turned to face Teishi again.   
  
"Of course I am! What do you think? I've been forced to sit with a Scientist who probably misplaced his brain at birth and listen to him ask me a bunch of questions that don't mean anything!" Drak felt deeply angry at Dr. Dowasure for asking him those questions. Although they were simple, he could feel them pulling at his heart. What WAS his name? Where was he? Who was he?  
  
"Sir, I..." Teishi was about to speak, then stopped. "Sir, are you feeling so frustrated you would like to hurt something, sir?"  
  
"Yes! I would like to punch that Dr. Dowasure right in the nose! Break those stupid glasses..."  
  
"Sir, I....I not only take care of you physically, I'm supposed to mentally as well, sir." Teishi's voice took on the strange tone it had before when he had asked him to fetch something. "You've no doubt, sir, seen this band on my arm. Sir, if you would just look near the foot of your bed..."  
  
Drak, having no other alternative, sat up and looked. There was a tiny, black button.  
  
"If...if you ever feel frustrated, sir, and want to release tension, you can press that button. It gives me a shock, sir."  
  
"Why would I want to do that?" Drak said, half surprised and half appalled. Teishi continued his same, emotionless tone.   
  
"It's like a...what is it called, sir? A stress reliever, sir. Many others I serve find that watching someone suffer under their control after they have suffered under others, sir, is somewhat comforting, sir."  
  
"Sick people. That's who would like something like that." Drak said, staring at the button with growing distaste.  
  
"The people I work for, sir." Teishi said, his voice neither angry nor registering any emotion. Just acceptance...and the increasing use of Sir. "I'm supposed to cater to your needs, and if you , sir,want to hurt something, sir, then you may hurt me, sir..."  
  
"Don't you even CARE?!" Drak shouted at Teishi. To his frustration, the boy remained impassive under his anger, not responding in any way. "If it hurts you, why do you let them do it?"  
  
"Sir...sir, if you want to press the button, sir, please do it now. I...I have to go somewhere, sir, I don't have much time...most people like to watch, sir..."  
  
"Don't change the subject!" Drak said, but Teishi averted his eyes to the ground. Realizing that that was a sign that Teishi was about to leave, Drak grabbed his wrists. He noticed the involuntary flinch that Teishi had through his arm as someone touched his previous wounds.  
  
"Sir...sir, please...I have to go, sir...they get angry if I'm late, sir..." Teishi said, keeping his eyes on the floor. Drak refused to let go.  
  
"You're not leaving until I get some answers!" Drak said angrily.  
  
"Please sir...please...I have to go..." Teishi said, his voice having the beginnings of desperation.  
  
Then Drak saw exactly what Teishi meant before. The band on Teishi's thin arm blinked, and then something happened to him. It was as if someone had sent a full-on Pikachu Thunderbolt directly into Teishi, who jerked slightly, but mainly stood stoically, waiting for it to pass. The jerks of electricity made Teishi loose control of the muscles in his body, all of which began firing at random. Drak could see the pain on his face and let go in horror. Teishi sank to the floor, his hands trembling with contained effort of not screaming or showing any pain. Drak could see a good deal of hairs on Teishi's head, ones that weren't bound in the ponytail, stand straight on end from the electricity.  
  
"Teishi!" Drak said. Teishi sat on the floor, panting, as the device beeped off. He sat there, absorbing the pain, and stood unsteadily. He fell into Drak, who pulled him up.  
  
"I told you, sir...I told you I should go...I'll...I'll see you later, sir..." Teishi stumbled out of the room, holding the top of his arm as if it would come off, covering the band completely with his thin hands. Within a moment Teishi was gone and the door had closed.  
Drak was stunned by what he had just seen. What kind of monster would do that to someone...someone who was as old as HE was! What kind of place WAS this?!  
  
Drak sank slowly into his bed, unsure of what to think. He stared at the black button, hating himself for having it and hating Teishi for not protesting him having it. Why didn't Teishi fight back? Drak couldn't understand. If it were him or Colt, they would have ripped off the band. But why did Teishi keep it on, never arguing with his situation? And what situation was it, anyway?  
  
Drak leaned his head against the metal wall, letting it cool him. What did they want him for?...What was the purpose of the questions, the interest? Why did they want him?  
Drak was struck suddenly by a thought. Perhaps they wanted to change him...change him like Teishi...make him weak and powerless.  
  
Drak knew that that answer was too simplistic to believe, but at least it helped give Dr. Dowasure a motive. It helped dispel the mystery...even if it was just a placebo. He covered himself with da wool blanket he had requested and sighed. If Mewtwo were here, at least they could go through this together. But now he was alone...and he didn't even know who he was anymore. Why did this happen to him?...  
  
  
Chapter 7  
  
"Explanation"  
  
  
Ella E was in for a surprise when she came home. Standing behind the door so she practically ran into her was her older sister. Surprised, she was hardly ready for what came next.  
  
"Who said you could keep him in MY ROOM!?" she shrieked. Caleb walked in from behind Ella E, confused, and watched uncertainly. Monty stood awkwardly. Ella E closed her eyes.  
  
"Mom and Dad, okay?" she said angrily. "They said he could. Why don't you go ask them?"  
  
"I don't have to! I want him out of my room!"  
  
"Fine!" Ella E slammed the bag of groceries down on the table, looking furious. "Fine! He won't sleep in your precious room anymore, okay? COLT!" she shouted upwards toward the stairs. Within moments, Colt was at the head of the stairs. He seemed willing to jump the entire flight to get near Ella E, but restrained himself to sliding down the banister and landing with a thump.  
  
"Colt, you can't sleep in Atelli's room anymore, okay?" Ella E said, sounding angry. "You'll have to find somewhere else."  
  
Colt had expected this much, and nodded. Meanwhile, Atelli held her doll and moved her eyes over the three boys.  
  
"Wait...Colt told me there were four boys." Atelli said, looking confused. "Where's the last one?"  
  
"Drak?" Ella E said quickly, then paused. "Drak..." she said slower, sounding thoughtful. She turned to Colt.  
  
"Did you tell her what happened?"  
  
Colt shook his head. Caleb simply nodded.  
  
"Figures he'd forget with a brain that small..." Caleb said passingly and walked into the living room, carrying the groceries had had brought with him. Colt began to blush a all too familiar color. He clenched his fists.  
  
"Have you seen the living room?" Ella E asked, walking slowly with Atelli towards it. Atelli shook her head No. Then she screamed when she saw the shattered window.   
  
Monty, being a fairly resourceful person, had taken plastic and stapled it to the remaining frames, giving the window the appearance of glass without the durability.   
  
"What HAPPENED?!" Atelli said, clutching her doll close. Ella E sat on the couch, looking worried.  
  
"It was...Drak. We...he said that he had a bad feeling about something...a bad feeling that something was going to happen...and we didn't believe him. He was right..."  
  
Ella E slowly told everything that she knew about what had happened. Atelli sat open-mouthed.  
  
"And you don't know where he is?"  
  
"No clue! They didn't leave anything...and none of the neighbors heard anything until it was too late."  
  
"Where's the Mewtwo? Is it around here?"  
  
Monty sat on the back of the couch, looking thoughtful.  
  
"I'm not sure. I think it's by itself. It usually is. It's probably out back."  
  
"I should go talk to it-" Atelli began to stand, but was pushed down by Colt. She glared at him, while Colt's face remained impassive.  
  
"Mewtwo wants to be alone. He just lost his best friend...the only person he's known for years...they were joined together and now aren't...I think he just wants to be with his mother."  
  
Atelli reluctantly sat down.  
  
"So where do I sleep now?" Colt asked. Monty again raised his hand.  
  
"I've got couch."  
  
"Yes, I know." Colt said, exasperated. He looked at Caleb.  
  
"Where are YOU sleeping?"  
  
"I was sleeping in her parents room. But I'm not moving out of it. I think you'd sleep better on the floor."  
  
"I think you'd sleep better if you were-"  
  
"Don't fight!" Ella E said. She looked at Caleb and sighed. She looked at Colt.   
  
"I'm sorry, but Caleb did have it first."  
  
Colt wouldn't have minded so much if it weren't for the superior smile he had on his face. Colt felt anger go through him, but couldn't find any way to express it without hurting someone.   
  
"Fine." Colt said angrily, glaring at Caleb. "I'll sleep in the hallway. That's where Drak slept."  
  
"There's always that chair near the window, Colt." Ella E pointed. Colt shook his head, remembering that what had happened in this room seemed to be HIS fault.  
  
"No...Drak slept there and look what happened to him." Colt was shocked at his words. He didn't even understand what made him say something that hurtful. He ran out of the room, furious at himself for saying something like that and at Caleb for making him. Colt could feel the familiar heat of his blush flushing into his face. Taking the stairs by twos, he ran into the one place that was open, the bathroom, and locked the door.  
  
Caleb stared after him with evident distaste.  
  
"That insensitive..." Caleb couldn't think of a word to express his disgust. "How could he say that? Doesn't he understand how important Drak is? He never thinks of anyone but himself."  
  
Atelli nodded, although the others did not. Monty stood up and streched.  
  
"It's about time for lunch." he said, trying to get the others minds of the unpleasant incident. "Anyone up for a sandwhich?"  
  
The others silently stood and followed him into the kitchen.   
  
~~~  
  
Mewtwo stared at himself and found it lacking.  
  
Sitting outside, in the midst of the trees and plants, sitting next to a pond that was in the backyard of Ella E's house, did nothing to alleviate the hatred that Mewtwo felt for himself. When he felt like this, he could usually count on Drak for support. He could count on Drak saying that Mewtwo was his own Pokémon...he had a life and was not just a worthless clone. But now...without Drak's presence or reassurance, Mewtwo was beginning to feel the doubt that now came back with a vengeance.  
  
He stared in the water at his reflection...the reflection of something that shouldn't even be alive. He shouldn't be here...he should never have existed. It was no natural process that brought his life to term...no natural evolution in terms to bring him to his state...no Mew had ever co-operated in creating him except the Mew who had left behind it's eye-lashes...left it's cells so they could be mangled and re-assembled by humans in the name of science. His life...his experiences that he could remember so richly and vividly...his very thoughts and ponderings...all came from some Scientist's idle curiousity on whether they could create the ultimate Pokémon. Everything that was him came from a whim...came from an idea. Not from another Pokémon...not from parents. Not from anything natural...he was created for no reason except to see if he could be. Did he deserve to live? Did he deserve to live this life that had been given to him? To use this power that was placed in his mal-formed paws? Why was he alive? Why? WHY?!  
  
He could see the distorted image in front of him shake and change shape. Realizing that it was the result of his tears falling into the water, the Mewtwo clenched his paws. Why should he be crying? He shouldn't be able to cry. He shouldn't be here, doubting his existence. He should be dead. He should be cells in a Mew's eyelash...that's what he was. That's where he belonged. The Mewtwo felt increasing anger and fury. Visions of Mew...the white creature that mocked him and his existance...visions of Mew danced in front of his blue eyes. Anger coursed through the Mewtwo. He had tried to explain that he was a copy of Mew when he found his precursor...a copy that needed to prove it was more....and Mew had chased it's tail. Mew, it's own biological parent, didn't believe he was worth listening to. And he wasn't. He should be dead. He shouldn't be alive, living in this body that he didn't own...living with power he couldn't control.  
  
The Mewtwo jerked as something soft touched his cheek.  
  
"My son...why are you weeping?" the voice of his mother came to him. Ashamed of his weakness, the Mewtwo focused harder on the water.  
  
"I...I feel alone. I...I miss Drak..." Mewtwo said akwardly. He could hear the soft flapping of wings as Eclipse flapped upwards and landed on his shoulder.  
  
"You are doubting your existance again, correct?"  
  
"Mother..." Mewtwo said, feeling more tears coming to his eyes. "You don't understand..."  
  
"I understand." Eclipse said firmly, wiping at the Mewtwo's face with a soft paw. "Because humans made you instead of being born as others were, you believe that you shouldn't be living. You do not find yourself worthy of life."  
  
"Mother..." the Mewtwo said helplessly, letting his tears fall freely. Eclipse hugged his neck, trying to cheer him up.  
  
"Remember, Mewtwo, that I'm your mother. I will never let anything happen to you, because you're my son and I love you."  
  
"Am I really?" the Mewtwo stared at it's mother with tear-filled eyes. "Really? It wasn't just the Mother's Lullaby?"  
  
"No no!" Eclipse said, touching the Mewtwo's face softly. "No...it's not that. You are my son...spiritually, you can be no other. You saw our power...we share an attack. We belong together...we're Mother and Son."  
  
Mewtwo remembered Blood Vortex...a maneuver he had never even heard of before he performed it upon a stubborn Clegencyana...if it WAS a Clegencyana. Mewtwo thought of something.  
  
"That Clegencyana we....destroyed....what was it? Was it a Clegencyana?"  
  
Eclipse sat and thought.  
  
"Depending on the stone, sometimes evolution goes...different. To evolve a Gencey, you have to use a Moon Stone...and it turns out differently depending on where it comes from. To evolve a Gencey into the majority of Clegencyana's you saw, you would need a Moon Stone that was never touched by human hands...removed naturally from the boulder where they come from...but the one we...we...it...it was evolved using a moon stone handled by humans...removed by humans. I think they refer to themselves as the Waruiyana...they are usually logical and cold...they form the council, most of the time..."  
  
"Blood Vortex...did you ever know of an attack like that?...I didn't..."  
  
"The power of a Mother and Son's love is extraordinary." Eclipse said, raising a paw in the air. Then she smiled. "I think I read that somewhere."  
  
"Mom...I don't know who I am anymore..." the Mewtwo said, looking back at the water. Eclipse's expression turned serious and she looked at him. Mewtwo stared at his reflection...the two horn-like protrusions....the large purple-blue eyes...the short nose...that was who he was. He was the only one of his kind...the only Mewtwo to ever be produced....the only one to have been cursed with being created and not born.  
  
"I...I feel like I should be Mew....I came from Mew...they altered me...they made me...they had complete control over me and I had none...Mom...Mom, I don't know who I am...I should be a Mew, but I am not. I am a Mewtwo...even my name speaks of the fact that I am nothing but a clone...a clone that could be easily replaced..."  
  
"Mewtwo, you are feeling like this because your support has been taken away. From what I know of you and Drak, Drak always told you you were a individual with a life and purpose of your own...he helped bolster your feelings and make you forget your doubt. But now that Drak is gone, you can't fall to pieces. You have to keep a handle on your feelings so you can find him and be ready to rescue him when we get the chance."  
  
"We don't even know where he is, Mother. We have no clues."  
  
"Did you hear anything when you spoke with Drak last?"  
  
"I..." the Mewtwo thought back. He tried to remember anything except Drak's frantic, cut-short scream for help. "I think..." the Mewtwo's eyes glew. "I think I heard other voices in his mind..."  
  
"Other voices?"  
  
"Like...like other psychic's were speaking to him."  
  
"Do you know who?"  
  
"To me, they're like whispering...to Drak, he probably could understand...but they weren't speaking to me..."  
  
Finding that thread of thought didn't lead to anything beneficial, Eclipse tried again.  
  
"Mewtwo, you must have SOME clue as to who would want Drak and why. Do you remember anything about Drak when you first met him?"  
  
"I just found him in the dark of the unknown dungeon...the dungeon where the scientists threw my tortured body after they had had their sick "fun"." the Mewtwo's body glew bright blue, a sign of the intense fury it felt. Eclipse thought hard.  
  
"Does anyone else know where the Unknown Dungeon is?"  
  
"I...I don't think so...I only remember them dragging me there after they were done...I don't think anyone else knew where I was..."  
  
"Do you remember who "they" was?" Eclipse asked urgently. Surprised at her interest, the Mewtwo thought harder.  
  
"They were the scientists that created me...the ones who made me." the Mewtwo's voice had obvious distaste in it at the words "Create" and "Make". "I...I can't remember what they're organization was called..."  
  
"Organization?"  
  
"Yes...it was like a research center I think...I'm trying to remember what it was called..." The Mewtwo clenched his paws and thought. He thought back past the pain and torture they put him through as he tested his powers. He thought past when he had opened his eyes to find himself covered in wires in a test-tube, surronded by shadowy figures who were celebrating their mockery of life. He tried to remember where he was...tried to remember the writing he always saw on the wall...the letters that kept repeating themselves in his mind over and over as he was dragged into the same chamber day after day...the same chamber where he would scream and cry and curse his own birth for making him suffer...remember the names that were written on the guards who prevented his escape...remember the name that was on the back of the clipboard of scientists who watched his fury and pain...remember the name that was almost branded into his skin, but more importantly into his brain....his brain that was not his....  
  
"Pokémon Genetic Research Institute." the Mewtwo said finally, tears of hate and pain flowing freely down his pale skin. 


	4. Kagakusha

Chapter 8  
  
"Lunch"  
  
  
Drak was curled in a blanket, laying on one side, his eyes closed. He felt in-explicable loneliness. He had no friends in this dark place...he felt sometimes as if he were treated not as a human, but as a thing.  
  
He heard the numbers being punched in the order that opened the security lock that guarded his cell, then the sound of the cell's metallic door slamming into the opposite wall. Drak sat up immediately, putting a hand over his eyes to protect them against the feeble light.  
  
"Teishi, please...don't slam the door...." Drak mumbled.  
  
"It's not Teishi!" a familiar cheery voice said. Drak rubbed his eyes and blinked, seeing a vague white figure with large glasses.  
  
"Dr. Dowasure..." Drak groaned, flopping back down on his make-shift bed. "Go away, I'm trying to sleep..."  
  
"Sleep? Now? Fascinating!" Dr. Dowasure said. Drak could hear him digging in his pockets, scattering the papers he had stored there across his floor. He then heard the scribbling sound that accompanied Dr. Dowasure's annoying habit of writing on his lab coat. "Unusual sleeping patterns! How very peculiar!"  
  
"I already answered your stupid questions...leave me alone..." Drak said, turning away from Dr. Dowasure and curling into a ball in his blankets. Dr. Dowasure was not easily dampened, however, and still spoke happily.  
  
"Oh no no! We have plans today!"  
  
"I'm through with your plans. I want to go home." Drak mumbled. He could hear Dr. Dowasure writing again.  
  
"Home, you say? Where's that?" he asked innocently. Drak started to reply, then trailed off, not sure of what really was his home. Not un-nerved by the silence, Dr. Dowasure stopped his writing and smiled again.  
  
"Anyway, me and Dr. Kagakusha have decided that we want to study your eating habits!" Dr. Dowasure said cheerily. Drak's eyes opened. "We want to know what you want to eat and how you eat and other such...such...what is the word? Other functions like that. Now, what did Dr. Kagakusha tell me to do...?"  
  
Drak sat up again, seeing the Doctor more clearly. His huge glasses were askew as he looked frantically through his pockets, scattering more papers across the floor. He looked very confused.  
  
"I thought you said Dr. Kagakusha didn't like working in this field." Drak said, deciding he might as well help the absent-minded man. He leaned down and helped pick up the papers. Dr. Dowasure nodded distractedly as he tucked them back in his pockets, only to have them fall out again as he emptied them.  
  
"Oh, she doesn't! Not usually! She's a field investigator, not a researcher. At least, I think Field Investigator is what it's called. I'm not sure...Anyway, she was assigned to help me on this, so she came up with the idea to watch you eat!"  
  
Drak rolled his eyes. "Probably comes from observing wild Pokémon."  
  
Dr.Dowasure suddenly brightened as he found what he was looking for. It was what looked like a small, black bracelet with some lights blinking on it. He smiled brightly.  
  
"Give me your hand."  
  
Drak, sensing something amiss, instantly drew back. "No!"  
  
"I won't hurt you! You're too important." Dr. Dowasure said, using the same tone he did before when he tried to persuade Drak to relax during the questioning session. "This is just to make sure you don't run off during lunch. You ARE hungry, aren't you?"  
  
Drak was, but he wasn't about to admit it.  
  
"I'm not letting you put anything on me! I want to sleep."  
  
"It's the middle of the day!" Dr. Dowasure gestured broadly. "Why do you want to sleep?"  
Drak, feeling more annoyed then he should, started walking back towards his bed. This, unfortunatly enough, left his back open to Dr. Dowasure, who took advantage of that. Instantly, Drak had the bracelet around his wrist and Dr. Dowasure was leading him out of the room into the featureless halls.  
  
"Hey...!" Drak said, not sure of how to react. It had happened so quickly, he was unsure of what exactly Dr. Dowasure had done. Dr. Dowasure had a hand firmly on Drak's shoulder so he couldn't run off. He was rambling about something.  
  
"So, that small device is wired a lot like Teishi's, except weaker and for a different purpose. Of course, that's reasonable, considering how you and Teishi are different. We can't be using those kind of shocks on something this important, oh no no, that would be bad! We can't do that..."  
  
"Teishi? What about Teishi?" Drak said suspiciously. Dr. Dowasure again smiled. It seemed nothing could make this scientist depressed.  
  
"Oh, it was Prof. Denka that discovered the design. Ingenious, isn't it? A small device wired to deliver a electric shock to the person wearing it when a button is pushed. He designed it so you could also change the level of volts, but I could never remember the password to get in the files and I couldn't edit them anyway, I've forgotten how."  
  
"Teishi wears one of those things?" Drak said, feeling deep sadness for Teishi's plight. Sadness and anger.  
  
"Oh yes, he was a test subject. It worked rather nicely. I don't think he could live without it now-"  
  
"Of course he could!" Drak interrupted Dr. Dowasure, who took this (as usual) as a good sign and began writing again on his sleeve.  
  
"Oh no no, I think that proximity of the device does...what did Prof. Denka say? I'm trying to remember...hmm...I think he said that it gave off constant electric pulses...so I think Teishi is so used to the electicity it wouldn't be healthy for him to remove-"  
  
"It's not healthy for him now!" Drak said with fury. "I...I SAW him get one of those shocks! It was...it was horrible! You don't understand, he was in so much pain..."  
  
"Oh, you have not yet learned how to look at everything objectively!" Dr. Dowasure said happily. Drak gave Dr. Dowasure a surprised look, but the Doctor's attention was taken by a panel next to one of the metal doors that lined the walls. He pressed his hand against it and the door slid open.  
  
"Much better then the number locks, I don't have to remember anything." Dr. Dowasure said to himself with a smile. "I always have to look at my notes..."  
  
Drak found himself in a large room, a room that was as stark and bare as his own. This looked almost like cafeteria, but cold and lonely. There were a number of empty tables and benches, and at one of them sat the woman who had escorted him to his first questioning session.  
  
"Dr. Kagakusha!" Dr. Dowasure called, smiling. "He came!"  
  
The woman got to her feet and shuffled over to Drak, her sneakers dragging slightly. She shook hands with Drak vigourously.  
  
"I'm sorry we couldn't meet on better terms before." Dr. Kagakusha said, trying to smile. Drak could see something strange in her that he didn't see in anyone else he had met. It was almost predatory. "Maybe we can start again." she continued. "My name is Dr. Kagakusha. What's yours?"  
  
"My name is Drak." Drak said, watching her warily. He noticed her eyes flicking to the bracelet he wore, then saw her relax slightly.  
  
"Drak what?" she asked. Drak again felt uncomfortable and angry at the silly question.  
  
"Drak...just Drak, okay?"  
  
Dr. Kagakusha looked at him, but didn't comment. Meanwhile, Dr. Dowasure had been writing busily on his sleeve, writing so tiny that he still had room. Dr. Kagakusha sighed heavily.  
  
"Must you do that? You know how...HE reacts to that."  
  
For once, Dr. Dowasure paled. Then his color came back and he smiled again.  
  
"I was doing it again! I'll try and stop." he said brightly. Dr. Kagakusha rolled her eyes. Obviously, she had experience with Dr. Dowasure before. Drak watched the two doctors carefully, not trusting either. But he remembered what he had seen Teishi go through, and he didn't want his bracelet activated.  
  
"I'll come straight to the point." Dr. Kagakusha said, crossing her arms and looking serious. "We're here to watch you eat and see how you react."  
  
"I'm a human being, not a test subject! I don't want to sit here and have you ANALYZING me!" Drak said angrily.   
  
Dr. Dowasure wrote busily on his sleeve while Dr. Kagakusha smiled slightly.  
  
"Here you can get whatever is on the menu..." she said, changing the subject. She pointed to a small white list on the wall. "We don't have much of a selection, but the people who work here ordinarily aren't very choosy."  
  
Drak eyed the menu suspiciously. Dr. Kagakusha laughed, not a pleasant sound.  
  
"It won't bite you. Go ahead and read some of it."  
  
Drak slowly edged towards the menu, watching the two scientists carefully. He didn't trust them or this whole situation...in this place, it appeared the only one he could trust was himself. Dr. Dowasure was writing on his sleeve and talking to himself, mumbling about "Fascinating Reactions" and such. Dr. Kagakusha had long given up on telling him to stop writing on his clothes.  
  
Drak finally managed to get his eyes off the two to look at the menu. The Doctor was correct..the menu wasn't very varied.  
  
Menu  
  
Chicken Soup  
  
Shrimp Soup  
  
Ham Sandwhich  
  
Oatmeal  
  
Turkey Sandwhich  
  
Ice Cream  
  
"Is this it?" Drak asked, looking at the two scientists. Dr. Dowasure was cringing and looking busily in his pockets while Dr. Kagakusha stared at him angrily. Disturbed, they turned to the boy. Dr. Dowasure looked relieved.  
  
"Yes, yes, I think that's all." Dr. Dowasure smiled again. "I usually order a ham sandwhich or some Shrimp soup."  
  
"No you don't." Dr. Kagakusha said, rolling her eyes. "You just keep ordering Ice Cream until you feel sick. You're so immature."  
  
"I only did that-" Dr. Dowasure counted on his fingers, mumbling to himself. "I only did that...wait...how many times DID I do that? Did I write it down somewhere...?"  
  
He proceeded to pull all the papers he had stored in his pockets out and scatter them across the floor. Dr. Kagakusha looked thoughtful, then sighed.  
  
"I think you did it last Tuesday...that's the latest. Honestly, to think a SCIENTIST wouldn't know when enough is enough-"  
  
"I was happy then!" Dr. Dowasure said indignantly. "I made a major accomplishment!"  
Dr. Kagakusha rolled her eyes.  
  
"Are you two done?" Drak asked. He felt as if he were the only mature one here, and that made him feel odd. The two scientists were startled and a little embarrassed.  
  
"Oh...um...just go over there to the window and say what you want when you're done." Dr. Kagakusha looked awkward. She didn't seem like the kind of woman who liked to be caught doing something stupid. The minute Drak had his back turned, she punched Dr. Dowasure in the arm.  
  
"OW!" he cried, surprised. He backed away from her.  
  
"You made me look like an idiot!" she hissed, looking furious. "Don't ever talk to me again!"  
Dr. Dowasure held his arm and nodded, but inwardly wasn't concerned. Dr. Kagakusha said that everyday.  
  
Meanwhile, Drak stood awkwardly near the metal plate that Dr. Kagakusha had designated as a "window". The only difference was that in the plate there was a small silver circle. Assuming this was what he had to speak into, Drak leaned close to it.  
  
"Um...Chicken soup." he said slowly, not sure if he was doing it correctly.  
  
Instantly, a bowl flashed out from underneath the plate onto the small counter in front of it. Drak jumped back, surprised, then smiled.  
  
"Fast Service..." he said softly to himself. "Could I have a spoon?"  
  
A spoon flew out of the opening and hit him, falling to the floor. Drak decided next time to be more careful where he stood.  
  
Taking the soup and spoon, Drak turned and saw that Dr. Kagakusha had her back to Dr. Dowasure and looked upset. Dr. Dowasure was holding his left arm. Shrugging, Drak walked to a table, trying to get away from the two, but they kept following him. Deciding there was nothing for it, Drak sat down and prepared to eat.  
  
Dr. Dowasure was about to sit down, but then Dr. Kagakusha shoved him out of the way. Looking hurt, he watched as she sat directly in front of Drak. Expecting her to scoot down so he could also sit, he was dissapointed as she stayed firmly where she was. Sighing, he made his way to Drak's side, sitting next to him.  
  
Drak had not touched his food, instead watching how the two scientists related. They watched him silently as he sat.  
  
"Are you going to just sit there and stare at me while I eat or what?" he said, vaguely annoyed. Dr. Dowasure opened his mouth to say something, but then was interrupted by Dr. Kagakusha.  
  
"That's what we were supposed to do, yes."  
  
"I can't eat when people are staring at me...it makes me uncomfortable..." Drak said, staring down at his soup. He heard scritching next to him and noticed Dr. Dowasure writing on his sleeve again.  
  
"Really? Why not?" he asked distractedly. Dr. Kagakusha sighed.  
  
"It's because he's uncomfortable with being watched, not because of something else." Dr. Kagakusha spoke carefully, as if trying not reveal something. Drak watched her suspiciously, but she gave no other clue of her intentions.  
  
Drak nervously began to eat, but began to feel as if he were under-pressure. Dr. Kagakusha (who was more responsible then Dr. Dowasure and had brought a clipboard) constantly watched him and nodded critically, writing down things quickly and decisively. Dr. Dowasure, on the other hand, never stopped writing.  
  
"Where am I?" Drak asked, wanting to break the silence. Dr. Kagakusha stopped writing, although Dr. Dowasure did not.  
  
The woman brushed back her long, reddish-brown hair. "Are you sure you want to know?"  
  
For once, Dr. Dowasure stopped writing. He looked at the other scientist cautiously. "Are we SUPPOSED to tell him? Are we allowed?"  
  
"The name is everywhere, I suppose he'll figure it out sometime." the woman said carelessly.  
  
"What name? What are you talking about?" Drak said slowly. He felt something in his mind...something contacting the inner ability he had to speak psychically. Something was trying to contact him.  
  
"This name. It's everywhere, I'm surprised you haven't seen it." Dr. Kagakusha held out the arm of her labcoat, and silver letters shone against the white.  
  
The pressure on Drak's mind became stronger. It was as if something was yelling at him, trying to speak, but couldn't be understood. Couldn't pass the necessary barrier for his comprehension. The pressure kept growing and Drak began to feel dizzy. Dr. Dowasure, noticing this change, stopped writing and stared at Drak curiously. Dr. Kagakusha, however, seemed oblivious.  
  
"These letters...PGRI..." she said, pointing to each letter in turn. The pressure kept growing, as if dozens of voices were trying to scream at him, but they couldn't break what kept him locked away. The pain was growing intense and Dr. Kagakusha began to get fuzzy in front of his eyes.  
  
"They stand for Pokémon...Genetic...Research...Institute..." Dr. Kagakusha said slowly, pointing at the corresponding letter.  
  
"Drak!" Dr. Dowasure said as the pain became to much for Drak and he passed out.  
  
~~~  
  
Drak felt himself awaken, but didn't see any light. It was as if he were concious...but his eyes were closed. In the darkness of his mind he could see two vague figures...glowing red and white. Their outlines were indefinite...he couldn't tell who they were. They came closer to him, yet remained insubstantial. Their voices seemed weak to him, weak and phantasmal.  
  
"Boy, Boy who knows the powers of mind..." the white one said, it's voice vaguely joyful. The Second one seemed more serious.  
  
"You are not ready for what will happen...you must escape."  
  
"You must leave this place to us, and we will take our rightful place."  
  
"It is a Pokémon's place to be Psychic, not a human."  
  
"It is not your place to have your abilities."  
  
"You must leave..."  
  
"Or be disposed of."  
  
Drak felt something wet touch his head and he jerked awake with a scream. Teishi fell back, startled.  
  
"Oh sir, sir, I'm sorry, I thought it would help,sir, you're so hot, it's almost like you're sick, sir..." Teishi said helplessly, watching as Drak sat up, looking around.  
  
"Did someone just come in here?" he asked Teishi harshly. The other boy shook his head fearfully.  
  
"No no sir, Dr. Dowasure brought you in here and told me to make sure you were okay, sir, really...No one else has been allowed in here, sir."  
  
Drak held his head, finding Teishi's testimony true. He was hot.  
  
"Am I sick...?" he asked himself, feeling confused. "What were those screams...why did I react so badly..."  
  
"Dr. Dowasure said that was exactly why he was told not to tell you about...you know, sir. He said it would bring about a bad reaction."  
  
"He said that? I'm surprised...he seems like a moron." Drak said resentfully, feeling sudden pain enter his head. Now the pain from before was hitting him again. Teishi, apparently sensing this, pushed Drak back down. He placed the wet rag back on his head. Drak was too weak to resist.  
  
"A moron? Oh no sir! Dr. Dowasure is a genius!"  
  
"A genius?" Drak said skeptically, staring at the metal ceiling above him. "That forgetful man who writes on his sleeve, eats ice cream until he gets sick, and can't stop using words like "Amazing" and "Fascinating"?"  
  
"Oh yes." Teishi nodded, and Drak was amazed at how serious he looked. "Dr. Dowasure may have some faults but he has a brilliant theoretical mind, sir. He practically invented the whole cloning technology!"  
  
"He did?!" Drak nearly sat up, but Teishi shoved him back down.   
  
"You can't get up!" Teishi said, trying visibly to stop himself from saying "sir". "They told me to make sure you get plenty of rest, because they aren't sure what attacked you."  
  
"Attacked me?" Drak said, feeling sudden weariness coming over him. He stared at Teishi through half-closed eyes.  
  
"Yes, they say the only way that you could have fainted from a mental problem was if several things attacked you at once."  
  
Drak's mind flashed back to the two forms he had seen. They reminded him of someone, but he didn't know who. He felt tired...he wondered whether he would ever escape this nightmare...when would he go home? When would he see his beloved Ella E again?  
  
"Shhh...shhh. Go to sleep. You need to go to sleep." Teishi said softly. Drak couldn't help by comply.  
  
  
Chapter 9  
  
"Letter"  
  
  
Colt looked in the bathroom mirror where he had locked himself. He knew this would only gain him a few moments of respite. The house was too small for the bathroom to remain undisturbed for too long.  
  
What in the world had possessed him to say something like that? He couldn't understand why this was making him feel so terrible and so guilty. He usually never felt this way. He usually would make a hurtful remark and then pretend he had never done it. He wondered why this was bothering him so much now.  
  
He stared at himself in the mirror. Normal, dingy brown hair spiked around his head. His dull brown eyes stared back at him. Nothing to make him special...he was just another person in the crowd. Another guy who happened to be tall and strong.  
  
"And a Rocket..." a soft voice within him said. Colt turned from the mirror angrily, finding himself blushing. He rubbed his face furiously, trying to make the bright crimson go away, but found that it had decided to stay. Angry at himself, he sank to the floor near the sink and thought.  
  
He found his thoughts tracing back to the cabin and meeting with Reimia and Tashi again. He felt his hands trembling with rage. Even Reimia's last minute rescue of him at the last showdown, he still felt uncontrollable hatred towards the other boy. He could clearly remember what happened...and how he had reacted. Throwing rocks with all his strength...shattering windows and getting some vicarious joy out of doing so.  
  
"I hate you...I hate you because of what you do to me..." he had said back then. Reflecting on the furious moment, he could not recall why he had said those words. He could not recall what had possessed him to say that...much like why he couldn't remember what made him saw his other words.   
  
He tried to push the issue away, disregarding it as unimportant. But Colt knew that something that could be bothering him this much couldn't be unimportant. Something was demanding his attention. He had to figure out why this bothered him so much.  
  
What was it that Reimia and Tashi did to him? Colt looked at his own hands, still shaking from suppresed anger. They made him feel angry. But why...?  
  
Colt knew why. Because of what they had done to him.  
  
That wasn't what he was looking for. That was too easy. Colt knew it had to be something else...but what? He couldn't find it...  
  
Suddenly he thought of Caleb. He felt the same kind of anger go through him. He knew somehow these two had to be connected...  
  
Why did Caleb make him angry? Because Caleb reminded him of who he was...then it hit him. That was it. It made him angry because it reminded him of what he had become. Where had came during his life...where he was destined to stay. At the bottom. And Reimia and Tashi reminded him of who he was and what he had become.   
  
Having finally faced his irrational hatred, Colt felt a release of pressure on his mind.   
  
"Colt? Colt! There are other people in this house, you know!" someone banged on the door loudly. Colt sighed and stood, brushing himself off.  
  
When he looked in the mirror, he was no longer blushing.  
  
~~~  
  
"Do you remember where it is?" Eclipse asked her son whose tears of rage still fell. The Mewtwo clenched the grass near the pond, ripping it out of the ground.  
  
"No...no. I don't ever want to go back there. Not ever...no." the Mewtwo stared directly into the pond as if seeking a answer. Eclipse looked thoughtful.  
  
"Do you remember the Unknown Dungeon?"  
  
The Mewtwo continued staring at itself. "Yes."  
  
"Do you remember where it is?"  
  
"...yes."  
  
"We have a lead then. We may be able to find Drak after all." Eclipse said brightly. The Mewtwo looked at her then back to the pond.  
  
"Do you think he is really being held in that place, Mother?"  
  
"It's the only lead we have." Eclipse said, patting her sons shoulder. "They may have taken him there to try and locate you."  
  
"It doesn't make sense..." the Mewtwo threw the grass he had torn out of it's bed into the pond, watching the ripples spreading. Eclipse fluttered her wings, jumping on her sons shoulder.  
  
"Things never make sense completly, Mewtwo. Things always are confused and changing. But we can at least try and find Drak."  
  
The Mewtwo kept staring, but finally relented and nodded. It stood up slowly and walked into the house.  
  
~~~  
  
"Ella E! Put them back! You can't do that!" Atelli's shocked voice went through the entire house.  
  
"I can too! They won't do anything bad! They're trained!"  
  
Boo, Facet, Warp, Beeffff PokémonO, Gogo, Charles, Nyashock, and Growlissa sat on the floor, watching the conflict between their master and her sister.  
  
"You can't have Pokémon running around in the house! It's too small as it is!"  
  
"They won't do anything bad! They just want some fresh air, okay? Give them a break!"  
  
"Growl!" Growlissa barked and began to pant, which almost caused Ella E to shatter glass at the new octave she had reached screaming "Awww!"  
  
Atelli held her head.  
  
"Fine! Fine! Be that way! But if you can let out all YOUR Pokémon, I can let out mine!"  
Atelli threw out six Pokéballs, much to Ella E's surprise.  
  
"What? No!"  
  
Soon, Six Pokémon stood behind Atelli and Eight sat behind Ella E. The two sisters glared at eachother. Atelli's Pokémon all seemed a lot larger then Ella E's, being older and more experienced. One in particular was Atelli's Dewgong, Dewy.  
  
However, Ella E was not going to be outdone.  
  
"You can't have out all YOUR Pokémon! That's too many!" Ella E said.  
  
"Too many! Too many!" Atelli mocked her sister, then laughed. "You just said a while ago that yours wouldn't cause any problems. Well, neither will mine."  
  
"Mine are small. Yours are big! Especially Schnoodle. Look what he's done to the furniture!"  
  
The Venusaur snored where the couch used to be, sleeping peacefully. The huge Pokémon had almost flattened it. Atelli looked worried for a moment, then recovered.  
  
"Well, until you put away yours, mine stay out."  
  
"That's not FAIR!" Ella E shouted, but Atelli walked out of the room, followed by most of her Pokémon except Schnoodle, who was still asleep. Charles was interested in the possibility of meeting a evolved form of himself.  
  
"Bulba?" he said, poking Schnoodle in the nose. Schnoodle remained asleep. Losing interest quickly, Charles returned to Ella E, who was turning bright red.  
  
"What's all the commotion about?" Monty said innocently, strolling into the room. Ella E, having no other place to vent her frustration, took it out on Monty.  
  
"That...She...ARGH! Atelli is so MEAN sometimes! Do you know what she did?!"  
  
Monty, sensing he had walked into a awkward situation, began to back away, holding his arms in front of him.  
  
"Uh...no..."  
  
"She made fun of me! Right here!" Ella E knew she was being irrational, but there was something about her sister that always made her angry. She never knew why. Monty, sensing he should say something, thought quickly.  
  
"Listen, it's just because she's your sister." he said carefully, trying to not anger her. "She doesn't understand, okay? Calm down and take a deep breath."  
  
Expecting Ella E's fan to hit him, Monty was surprised when he opened his eyes to find Ella E looking composed. She ran over to him and gave him a hug.  
  
"Thanks for making me calm down, Monty! Bye!" With that, Ella E ran out of the room. Monty was blushing so furiously his whole face was red. Colt walked into the room, looking the very picture of Monty when he first came in.  
  
"What happened?" he asked, avoiding Charles as he scooted by his legs. He then made a strange noise when he saw Schnoodle on the couch. "What in the-"  
  
Monty was too dumbstruck to speak at first, but finally managed to compose himself. "Huh...oh. Um...Ella E and Atelli got into a argument..."  
  
Colt scratched his head.  
  
"Where did THIS come from?" he pointed to the Venusaur who had flattened the furniture. Monty shrugged.  
  
"You're guess is as good as mine." he said, his face slowly turning it's normal color.  
  
~~~  
  
"Eeeee! Eeeeeee!" A High-Pitched cry sounded through the small house. Boo ran back and forth in front of the door, sounding it's name at the top of it's lungs. Soon Ella E came to where her Eevee had summoned her.  
  
"Eeee!" Boo said, jumping in Ella E's arms.  
  
"What is it, Boo?" she asked, staring at the Eevee. It smiled at her and pointed at the small envelope on the floor.  
  
Since the house was relatively small, soon everyone was with Ella E near the stairs.  
  
"What's wrong?" Monty asked, looking at Boo, who shied away from him.  
  
"I've got a letter...but they don't deliver the mail on Sundays." Ella E said, putting Boo down and looking at the letter suspiciously. Atelli rolled her eyes.  
  
"Well, who's it for?"  
  
Ella E looked annoyed and picked up the letter. The only writing on it was on the envelope. In small, neat handwriting right in the middle of the envelope was her name. Ella E was even more curious now.   
  
"That's strange..." she said, looking at the letter.  
  
"Open it." Colt said impatiently. Caleb glared at him, but didn't comment. Ella E held the envelope out to Facet, who sat motionless on the floor where it had glided.  
  
"Facet, can you open this?"  
  
"Pory." it said in a mechanical, unfeeling voice. It looked at the envelope and a small laser formed from it's nose. It appeared for what seemed like only instant, but Ella E soon held a open envelope in her hand.  
  
"Thank you, Facet." she said. Facet's eyes seemed to smile as it returned to it's previous position.  
  
"What's it say?" Colt asked, trying to read over Ella E's shoulder. She read it silently, then looked up as if stunned.  
  
"Bad news?" Atelli asked. Ella E dropped the letter on the floor and nearly fell backwards if Colt hadn't caught her. Warp teleported in, grabbed the letter, and teleported to Atelli's shoulder. It dropped the letter, then disspeared. Atelli, shrugging, grabbed the letter and began to read. It almost looked as if someone had filled in a form.  
  
"You are formally invited to the funeral of Joy Sama of Vermillion City. Formal Attire required. You may bring two companions. Please respond with a positive or negative response as space is limited. Join us in the mourning of the passing away of someone important to the community.  
Signed,  
Joy Sama of Pewter City"  
  
"That's right..." Caleb said, looking thoughtful. "I remember. One of the victims of the Vermillion City Massacre was Nurse Joy. This must be from her sisters."  
  
"Why would she invite Ella E?" Atelli asked.  
  
"Ella E was the last one to see her alive." Caleb said softly. Ella E remained motionless in Colt's arms, tears beginning to form in her eyes. 


	5. Cyrus

Chapter 10  
  
"Tour"  
  
  
Drak awoke to the sound of someone softly singing. He couldn't tell who or what they were saying. Everything around him seemed fuzzy and indistinct...everything seemed grey and black. Assuming it would pass, Drak waited patiently, listening to the tune. It was slightly haunting, slow and seemed almost sad. He couldn't make out the words, but now the fog was lifting slowly. He could tell it was a male voice...one that sounded like his own. A young voice.  
  
Drak tried to shake the cobwebs from his mind. He couldn't remember much of what happened. Where was he?...Whenever Drak tried to remember, he felt a slight tingle of pain. Deciding to stop trying, he waited for the dark mist over him to lift.  
  
He could now hear words...at least, that's what they sounded like...  
  
"Kaketa yume, Domado mune...  
Kizutsuku tabi motareta...  
Kimi no kokoro ni, kono ai wo kasane...  
Kikaseta iyo...Gloria...."  
  
After that verse was sung, the voice started again. Drak managed to get enough power to sit up. Waiting for the bursts of light in his vision to pass, he saw a blonde-haired figure washing some of the areas of his room. The voice was coming from him. Teishi sang the verse again. It sounded like some kind of sad dirge...like a cry for help...  
  
"Teishi?" Drak asked, putting out his hands to steady himself.  
  
Teishi jumped and dropped the rag he was carrying and turned around quickly. He looked very embarrassed.  
  
"Oh! Oh sir, you're awake! I...Are you feeling better, sir? I hope so..." Teishi said awkwardly, standing and brushing himself off. He walked over to Drak, who couldn't stop staring at him.  
  
"What was that song?" Drak asked. Teishi looked embarrassed again.  
  
"It's a song that comes into my head occasionally. I don't know here it comes from. It's almost like someone sends it to me." Teishi laughed nervously. "Strange because I'm not psychic, like you, sir."  
  
Drak tried to see if he could sense the presence sending the song, but found none.  
  
"It sounds like japanese..." Drak said, trying to keep his head clear. Teishi nodded.  
  
"Yes, it does, doesn't it? I think it is."  
  
"What's it mean?"  
  
Teishi looked thoughtful for a moment.   
  
"I don't know...I never knew any of it in English...just what I heard."  
Drak, deciding to give up on it, shrugged his shoulders. The song wouldn't leave his mind.  
  
"Can you teach me it?" he asked. Teishi was startled for a moment, then nodded.  
  
"If you want, yes."  
  
Drak spent the next few minutes learning the simple song from Teishi. Drak found that if sped to the right tempo, the song was actually fairly up-beat.  
  
"Why is it sung so slow? It sounds like you're sad."  
  
"Sad? Oh no sir." Teishi eyes began to waver from Drak's. "No, I'm fine."  
  
"Are you sure that," Drak pointed at the band on Teishi's arm, "isn't what's bothering you?"  
Teishi covered it hastily.  
  
"No, sir. I'm used to it being there."  
  
Drak grabbed Teishi's arm and pulled it away from his grasp. Teishi gasped but didn't struggle. Drak looked at the band carefully.  
  
"This is what they use to control you? It's like a collar."  
  
Teishi was looking off at the floor now. "No no, sir, they don't use it as a control, sir, it more of a signaller and a stress reliever, sir."  
  
"Fancy way of saying Torture Device." Drak said, feeling anger surging up within him. He couldn't stand watching Teishi being decieved this way. He hated the way he was being used as a possession and not a human. He hated how Teishi never fought back. Before he knew what he was doing, Drak had grabbed the band and pulled.  
  
Teishi gave an astonished cry as the band sparked angrily and broke. Drak let go of Teishi's arm, and he fell back, his hand above the band, wanting to touch it but afraid to.  
  
"Sir!"  
  
"Teishi, don't let them do these things to you! Stand up for yourself!"  
  
"Sir, sir, sir...." Teishi seemed almost near hysterical tears. "Oh sir...Oh, they're going to be so mad at me, sir. So mad, sir! Why'd you do that, sir? Why?"  
  
"If they're going to be mad at anyone, it's going to be me." Drak said angrily. "I'm not going to let this...this disrespect of Human dignity go any further."  
  
Sure enough, soon after Drak had stood in front of Teishi, the door to his cell burst open, revealing a rushed and nervous Dr. Dowasure. He was astonished at what had happened. Apparently, the device breaking sent some kind of signal to wherever it was controlled and Dr.Dowasure happened to be the one to be there.  
  
"The Device! This is no good at all, oh no! Oh dear..."   
  
Drak could almost see the mental struggle on Dr. Dowasure's face as he debated whether to do something or write this all down on his sleeve. Finally, he chose the former.  
  
"We have to take Teishi to Prof. Denka right away!" Dr. Dowasure moved forward, but Drak stood in front of Teishi, who was too frightened to say anything.  
  
"No! No! I won't let you do this to human beings anymore!"  
  
Dr. Dowasure seemed almost puzzled by Drak's reaction.   
  
"Remember...did I tell you about that device?" Dr. Dowasure tapped his head as if to hurry his thoughts. Drak cautiously nodded.  
  
"Did I tell you how Teishi had become acclimated to the pulses from it?"   
  
Drak nodded again, beginning to feel a slight doubt.  
  
"If we don't get that thing fixed then...then..." Dr. Dowasure snapped his fingers. "What would happen? Ah! The device is like a pacemaker...it helps regulate Teishi's system. Without it, Teishi can't last long."  
  
Drak was feeling severe doubt now.  
  
"No..."  
  
Dr. Dowasure had given up on arguing. Moving forward, he tried to get past Drak, but he refused to move. Desperate, Dr. Dowasure tried to find a reason for Drak to move.  
  
"Look! Look for yourself!" the Doctor said, pointing near Drak's feet. Drak looked down.  
  
Teishi seemed to be going into some kind of seizure. His whole body shuddered and he didn't seem to be focusing on something. Drak was too shocked to block Dr. Dowasure. The Doctor moved forward and picked the small boy up in his arms.  
  
"I can't lock the door carrying him..." Dr. Dowasure said as he reached the door. He looked at Drak, then at Teishi, then back at Drak.  
  
"Come on! You'll have to come with me, I can't close the cell. Hurry!"  
  
Drak, unable to think of anything else, followed Dr. Dowasure down the halls. Drak quickly got lost, but Dr. Dowasure seemed to know where he was going. This bothered Drak...it seemed unlikely that the doctor would remember the way to anything.  
  
"Was it right or left..."   
  
Sure enough, Dr. Dowasure stopped at a junction, unsure of where to go.  
  
"You can't stop now!" Drak said, feeling concerned. Dr. Dowasure was so stressed he began hopping from one foot to the other.  
  
"Writing! My writing hand! Left!" Dr. Dowasure took off running, with Drak in pursuit. Pulling up next to him, Drak looked at the scientist.  
  
"You're left handed?"  
  
"Here we are!" Dr. Dowasure changed the subject as the stopped in front of a metal door. Putting Teishi down for a moment, Dr. Dowasure pressed his hand against a panel near it, and the door slid open. Picking Teishi up, he dashed in. Drak followed, unsure of what to do.  
  
Professor Denka was sitting and fiddling with a small device when Dr. Dowasure rushed in. Startled, he jumped from his chair and stood staring at the man. Assimiliating the situation instantly, Prof. Denka pointed to a metal table. Dr. Dowasure, unable to think for himself in this stressed of a situation, did what he was told.  
  
Unlike the others Drak had met, Prof. Denka seemed to have a friendly air around him. The over-weight man had kind grey eyes and what seemed like white hair. He looked at the device on Teishi's arm which kept sparking.  
  
"No time to fix the problem...got to find a alternate..." Prof. Denka moved to his desk and opened a drawer labeled "EMPE". Drak was relieved to find that Prof. Denka apparently organized his belongings. Rummaging around, he continued to talk to himself. Meanwhile, Dr. Dowasure couldn't contain himself and began writing again.  
  
"Can't find a replacement...must use something of a weaker pulse and pump it up to the correct voltage..."  
  
The Professor took out a small bracelet, much like the one Drak once wore, and snapped it on Teishi's wrist. Instantly, Teishi's movements became less frantic. Moving quickly to his computer, Prof. Denka began typing furiously.  
  
"Access databanks...EMPE unit...voltage settings...maximum level...engage at pulses 2.5 measured to the beat..."  
  
Soon, Teishi's seizures began to slow and he calmed down. He began to slow his breathing as the device on his wrist beeped slowly. Drak walked over to the table, ignoring Dr. Dowasure.  
  
"Teishi?" he asked. Teishi managed to look at him.  
  
"Sir...tell them...it was my fault. Supposed to watch over you..." Teishi managed to say before he passed out. Prof. Denka looked at his scientific compatriot.  
  
"Dowasure, take Teishi to the infirmiary. Let him rest and see if he acts up again. I'm going to try and fix this device."  
  
Dowasure looked up from his writing, startled, but complied. As Drak turned to leave, he felt Prof. Denka's hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Hold on."  
  
Drak felt a sense of fore-boding as he turned to face the man. He looked down at the boy.  
  
"Did you break the device?"  
  
Drak found no point in lying and nodded.  
  
"Was it because you felt angry at Teishi's bondage?" Prof. Denka turned back to the device on the table. Amazed at his perception, Drak nodded.  
  
"I can sense something about you, boy. You're the one they found, am I right? I probably am. Listen, Teishi is used to it. He can't get out of his position or change it. The device has made that decision for him. Sad, really. If I knew the side-effects before I created that thing..."  
  
"You created it?" Drak asked, remembering someone telling him something to that effect. Prof. Denka nodded.  
  
"Yes. It was just a variation on a Electric Shock system I was working on with Gravital."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Oh, yes, you haven't met it. Gravital!"  
  
There was a electric buzz noise as a Magneton floated from behind his desk. It seemed to smile at Drak somehow. Prof. Denka patted it's head.  
  
"Gravital is essential for my research."  
  
"What is it you research? What do Dowasure and Kagakusha research? Why am I here?" Drak asked. Prof. Denka smiled.  
  
"Full of questions. Don't blame you, though. I, personally, research the electrical devices here. From the electric locks to Teishi's device, everything is controlled by me. Dr. Dowasure is a inventor but also a researcher. Kagakusha is a field investigator."  
  
"But why are they researching ME?"  
  
"You were in control of a Mewtwo for a while, weren't you?" Prof. Denka asked. Drak nodded. "We're very interested in the M-2 Series. So no doubt they want information on everything."  
  
"What is the M-2 series?" Drak asked, getting a vague sense of foreboding. Prof. Denka sighed and stood.  
  
"I suppose I might as well show you...that would be the easiest way to understand. Follow me."  
Prof. Denka walked out and Drak could not help but follow. While they walked, Prof. Denka talked.  
  
"A long time ago, a historic discovery was made. No doubt you've heard of it. The eyelash of a   
Mew. Since the Pokémon was thought extinct, we decided we would go the way of the scientists who revived the Dome and Helix fossils. We would try and reconstruct the Pokémon. Of course, there were some among us who wanted to add some...extras. After a lot of debating, it was generally agreed that the Mew clone should be given some extra abilities so it could deal with it's new habitat. Since it was born countless years ago, we agreed it would not be suited for life today and outfitted it with what we thought it needed. We code-named this whole thing the M-2 Project."  
  
Prof. Denka pressed his hand against a panel and a door slid open, leading into a room full of glass tubes. Passing these carelessly, the Professor continued onwards. Drak could not help but stare. The tubes were full of blue and orange liquid, throwing scattering reflections on the floor. Various electrodes floated in the liquid, as if they were writhing tentacles.  
  
"This was our first attempt. M-2 Specimen A. Died upon creation. We decided we could preserve it in statsis for study to find out where we had gone wrong." Prof. Denka paused in front of one of the tubes. Drak gaped.  
  
Inside was a twisted excuse for a Pokémon. The creature was about 3 feet tall, bluish and pinkish in color. Three malformed arms sprouted from a twisted torso, only one leg having formed properly. The other leg was a formless mass. Two tails floated serenly past the creature. From the back of the head came what looked like the tube that connected Mewtwo's head to it's body...only this was never fully connected. It's nose was flattened and it had almost Mew like ears. It's eyes were closed. It's useless limbs floated in the liquid, unable to ever be moved. Drak had never seen anything more hideous. Drak heard something in his mind reminiscent of the screams he had heard before...this one sounded desperate. It sounded pleading. Drak put his hands to his head as if to force the thoughts away as Prof. Denka continued.  
  
"We found our mistakes and tried to fix them and ended up with M-2 Specimen B." Prof. Denka began to walk again. Eager to get away from the pathetic, malformed creature, forever locked in the eternal darkness, Drak hurried after the Professor. He stopped in front of a broken tube, the electrodes hanging uselessly.  
  
"This one managed to live, which made it considered a success. However, it was seen early on that it was not mentally stable. It seemed to be undergoing a ongoing identity crisis. Also, it couldn't use all the TM's and HM's like the Mew could and was deficient in power. But it was alive. This meant it was used for many tests." Prof. Denka shook his head, staring at the broken and still sparking electrodes. "They were cruel, I'm afraid. Sometimes I can still hear it screaming in pain. Finally, deciding we had found all we could, we threw it in the Unknown dungeon where no one would ever find what we had done. We thought we had escaped it."  
  
Drak realized that the Pokémon they were speaking of was Mewtwo.   
  
"How many test subjects were there?" Drak swallowed hard. Prof. Denka looked uncomfortable.  
  
"E is the latest and is under construction. We must go now...no doubt they are wondering where you are."  
  
"No...please...I don't want to go back. Who or what were C and D? What happened to them?" Drak didn't want to leave this kind mans presence. It seemed that he was the only human that Drak had really met while he was here, and Drak realized he was lonely. He didn't want to leave.  
  
"We have to go." Prof. Denka said regretfully. He gently pushed Drak along, guiding him out of the eerie room. Drak looked back once as the doors slid shut and saw that M-2 Specimen A had turned towards him.  
  
It's eyes were open.  
  
Drak was suddenly overcome with the screams. It came was if in a wave, overwhelming him while he was un-prepared. The last thing that he saw was Prof. Denka's face and he then he passed out.  
  
  
Chapter 11  
  
"Funeral"  
  
  
"I'm not going." Colt said, crossing his arms stubbornly.  
  
"What do you mean, you're not going?" Ella E asked, holding the letter in her hand. "It says I can take two friends with me, and I want you to come."  
  
"It just doesn't make sense." Colt turned away, looking at the carpet. "I was a Rocket, remember? I stole from Nurse Joy's centers. She wouldn't want me there. And I hate formal things like that."  
  
"It isn't just because Caleb is going?" Ella E asked innocently. Colt felt himself blushing.  
  
"No! I just don't want to go, okay?"  
  
"Sure. Monty doesn't want to go either and neither does Atelli. And I'm not going with only one friend."  
  
"Why doesn't Monty want to go?" Colt rolled his eyes. Ella E sighed heavily.  
  
"We've been through this a dozen times, Colt!" she said, frustrated. "Since he claims to be the oldest, he wants to stay and be in charge with Atelli. They both claim it's because they're more "mature" then us. So stop whining and come with me."  
  
"No. I refuse. I'm not dressing like a penguin for a function I don't belong at." Colt said sulkily, heading for the stairs.  
  
"You're not going to talk you way out of this one, Colt! You're coming!" Ella E grabbed his arm. Colt was far stronger then her and continued walking. He looked back at her angrily.  
  
"No I'm not! I don't belong there! The Joys all hate me, you know! And the Jenny's will be there too! They might try and arrest me!"  
  
"If you're dressed PROPERLY, they won't recognize you! Besides..." Ella E thought quickly and desperatly. "If you don't come, that means it's just me and Caleb...alone."  
  
Colt felt a flash of angry jealously. Ella E smiled, realizing she had bait.  
  
"You'll only have to do it once. Come on...relax and do it. For me?"  
  
Colt sighed heavily.  
  
"Fine. But I don't want to wear a tux. Is that understood?"  
  
"Caleb! Caleb! We're going!" Ella E ignored him and called up the stairs, where Caleb quickly came running down. As they walked out the door, Atelli and Monty waved cheerfully at them.  
  
~~~  
  
"Oh Colt, you look so handsome!" Ella E giggled, watching the Rocket turn a bright red. Whether it was embarrassment or anger she couldn't tell.  
  
"I said I didn't want to wear one of these!" he said, walking awkwardly out in a full tuxedo. Caleb, who already had gotten his, sat on the chair and promptly fell off laughing. Colt turned to him angrily.  
  
"It's not funny! I feel like an idiot!"  
  
"No, no! You look fine! Really! Look at yourself!" Ella E stood and pushed him towards a mirror. Colt blushed harder as he stared at himself from three directions. He hated how he looked. He looked just like one of the rich people he had so hated and admired. Ella E seemed very happy.  
  
"See? Now we're ready to go!" she said brightly. "All I need to do is get my dress!"  
  
"I'm not wearing this!" Colt said uselessly as Ella E pushed him to the cash register. Caleb wiped tears of laughter from his eyes as he followed.  
  
Soon, Colt walked out, carrying a bag with his new Tuxedo, blushing and mumbling various curse words to himself. Ella E stopped in front of another store, this one for dresses.   
  
"Help me choose!" she said, dashing in and choosing several different dresses. Colt and Caleb sat down and sighed, both being tired from walking around the mall for so long.  
  
"Ooo, I like this one!" Ella E burst out, wearing a light blue-green dress that matched her eyes. It was simple but well-cut, a single flower near the neckline. She smiled and twirled. While Caleb's eyes widened, Colt's blush became even deeper. Ella E looked at herself in the mirror, liking what she saw.  
  
"Ooo, this one is nice! I'll get this one!" she said, pulling out her wallet. Colt finally regained some composure.  
  
"Shouldn't you be more serious? We ARE going to a funeral."  
  
"Oh, just ruin it, why don't you. We might as well enjoy it as much as we can before we get there." Ella E payed for the dress and began walking out. The two boys followed her, a few paces back.  
  
"Lighten up, Colt. Maybe Officer Jenny won't recognize you when you're dressed decently." Caleb said bitingly. Before Colt could respond, Caleb moved up until his pace matched Ella E's, smiling brightly and complimenting her on her wise fashion choice. Colt felt himself getting redder and began cursing again.  
  
~~~  
  
"Thank you!" Ella E gave the Taxi driver his money and stood in front of the Funeral home, dressed in her new clothes. Colt and Caleb got out of the backseat, Colt looking exceptionally awkward. Ella E held her wallet upside down, noticing the absence of money.  
  
"Hmmm...looks like we'll be walking home." she said. Colt and Caleb shrugged.   
  
"Where are we supposed to go, anyway?" Caleb asked, looking around.   
  
A lady with pink hair, tied in braids, walked by, seemingly in a hurry. She was dressed in black and seemed to be sobbing. She walked into a door on the far left, closing it gently behind her. The three children stared.  
  
"That looks like Nurse Joy of...of...well, of somewhere. She's probably here for the funeral." Caleb said, scratching his chin. Ella E smiled.  
  
"Then that's where we're going. Come on." she said, leading the way to the door.  
  
"Freeze!" A female voice said from behind them. Colt, out of habit, instantly grabbed for a Pokéball that wasn't there, instead grabbing his belt. Blushing furiously, he stared into the sad face of Officer Jenny. Her face was shrouded in a black veil and instead of her bright officer's uniform, she wore a dull black dress.  
  
"Are you...?" she looked carefully at Colt's deeply blushing face, then leaned back. "I'm sorry...I must have had you confused for someone else."  
  
"Are you here for Joy Sama's funeral?" Ella E asked. Instantly, Jenny's face clouded with tears. She nodded. Colt breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Are you sure we haven't met before?" Jenny looked at Colt again. "You seem familiar..."  
  
"Blasting off again..." Caleb whispered, whistling nonchalantly to himself. Ella E shoved a elbow in his ribcage, effectively silencing him. Jenny looked up, her hand straying towards the inside of her dress where no doubt she still had her weapon.  
  
"Excuse me?" she asked, sounding suspicious. Colt began to blush harder, stammering and becoming nervous. Thankfully, Ella E jumped for the chance to change the subject.  
  
"Can you tell us where we're to go for the funeral? We're not exactly sure..."  
  
"Follow me..." Jenny said, leading them through the last door. Ella E gasped as she entired the cathedral.  
  
It was like there was a mass of blue, pink, and black. Jennys sat on one side, Joys on the other, all clothed in black. In front of them, laying in a casket, was the Joy of Vermillion city. A light shone brightly on the dead body, wreathed in flowers of all colors. Ella E instantly felt a deep sadness spread over her. While she was able to act carefree outside, here she was faced with the grim reality of death. Moving forward silently, she took her seat in one of the front pews, gesturing for Colt and Caleb to follow her. While Caleb looked solemn, Colt looked nervous and uncomfortable, rolling up his sleeves and shoving his hands in his pockets. Ella E whispered harshly to him, but he refused to let his sleeves back down. He was also convinced that all the Jennys were staring at him. Before they could continue the argument further, the preacher took the stand. Looking solemn, the man began to speak.  
  
"We're gathered her today to say goodbye to someone who dedicated their life to helping others, to the aid of the people who needed her. She was a selfless woman, who would have given anything to anyone if it would help them. Including her life. Nurse Joy Sama of Viridian City was a true heroine..."  
  
There were numerous sobs coming from the crowd and much blowing of noses. Ella E was beginning to get teary-eyed, sniffing and looking down. Caleb looked at the floor, overcome with the gravity of the situation. Colt continued looking around uncomfortably, convinced he didn't belong here. He could sense the Jennys and Joys staring at him and he could swear they knew who he really was.  
  
The preacher continued on for some time, even at some moments sounding choked up himself. Finally, he reached his conclusion.  
  
"Now, everyone may stand and pay their last respects to this wonderful woman."  
  
On that cue, the people in the first row of pews stood and lined up near the coffin, pausing near it and saying some quiet words. One Nurse Joy burst into open hysterical tears and had to be led away by an Officer Jenny. Ella E was haunted by one Officer Jenny who paused in front of her and kept repeating the word "Why..."  
  
Finally, it was her and her friends turn. She walked to the coffin, looking at the serene and quiet face of Nurse Joy. It was hard to imagine that this beautiful looking woman was once stabbed brutally and left for dead in a Pokécenter in the middle of a storm. It was hard to believe that she, Ella E, had her blood on her hands as she took the keys to save the Nyashock. Ella E was overcome with emotion and began weeping, tears splashing to the floor. She could not get over the feeling that this was her fault.  
  
Caleb, standing next to her, noticed her distress. Feeling equally sad, he placed his arms around her shoulders. Holding back tears, he sighed.  
  
"You were a great nurse..." he said to the corpse. He turned to Ella E. "Shhh...shhh...it's not your fault."  
  
Colt, meanwhile, kept feeling uncomfortable. He didn't want to be here, staring down at this dead body. He felt as if she wasn't really dead. Just a doll in front of him. He felt no sorrow or pain, just a growing frustration at having to stand here in this uncomfortable suit as the people he hurt kept staring at him. He was frustrated at the fact that he wasn't feeling any sadness. He wanted Ella E to hurry, and finally she moved away. Colt noticed with growing jealousy and anger that Caleb kept his arm around Ella E, trying to calm her. She kept crying, and the three walked away, making their way outside.  
  
"Oh, why did she have to die? She didn't do anything..." Ella E sniffled. Caleb sighed.  
  
"She wasn't meant to...Kame and Max had no idea what they were doing when they killed all those people...and when they tried to kill you."  
  
Ella E smiled momentarily, which clashed visibly with Colt's growing angry scowl.   
  
"Come on...let's go home." he said gruffly, unable to think of anything else to say. Caleb shot a venemous glance at him, but Ella E broke away and began walking, her arms crossed. Left behind, Caleb turned to Colt, visibly angry.  
  
"That was REAL sensitive, you dork." Caleb said angrily. "Let's go? Let's GO?! Someone just DIED and YOU don't care!"  
  
"Because I never met the lady, you moron. I never WENT to a Pokécenter, unless it was night."  
  
"That's right, I forgot." Caleb said, his eyes narrowing. "You liked to steal from these poor women, didn't you? You shouldn't have come, you only cause Nurse Joy pain in her life."  
  
"Your right, I shouldn't have come!" Colt said with sudden energy. "I didn't want to come, if you can remember!"  
  
"Stop it!" Ella E came back and shoved the two apart. "I don't want to hear you fight right now, okay? Please. Let's just head home."  
  
The two boys gave eachother one last glare, then nodded.  
  
~~~  
  
"That is NOT a word." Atelli leaned back and crossed her arms, looking sulky.  
  
"It is too. Go get a dictionary if you don't believe me." Monty smiled comfidently.  
  
"But that's not fair! That word would get you so many points it's unbelievable!"  
  
"I played it and it exists." Monty had a superior smile on his face as he leaned back in his chair. Atelli was angry.  
  
"It does not! There's no such word as "Musicality" and you made it up just to get the Y on the triple word score!"  
  
"It exists. Go look it up." Monty waved her off with his hand and Atelli stomped off, grabbing the dictionary. She flipped through it resentfully.  
  
"Well?" Monty asked, smiling. Atelli gave a huff and threw the book at the couch.  
  
"Fine! It does exist. Hmmph...who would have thought..."  
  
"I win!" Monty said brightly, in contrast to Atelli's dark scowl. Atelli stared at Monty's smug face and turned away, looking out the broken window.  
  
"When are they coming back?" Atelli said softly. Monty began picking up the pieces of the Scrabble game, placing them back in the pouch where they belonged. He looked up at her comment.  
  
"When the Funeral is over, I suppose."  
  
"Were you...were you there?"  
  
"Where?" Monty said distractedly, placing the pieces back in the box and shutting it. The game was old and the box was flimsy, but it held long enough for him to put it back into the closet where they had found it.  
  
"At the Pokécenter. When it happened."  
  
"No." Monty brushed himself off and sat down, looking down annoyed at the Meowth that had instantly lept into his lap. "I met Ella E shortly after that, as a matter of fact."  
  
"Why do you like her so much?" Atelli asked abruptly, changing her previously unfocused gaze onto Monty with disturbing intensity. Monty twitched at this sudden change of focus.  
  
"Ella E? Why I like Ella E?"  
  
Atelli nodded.  
  
"Well..." Monty rubbed his head with his hand awkwardly. "It's hard to explain. I traveled with her for a while because I thought she would get hurt if she stayed by herself...and I guess that feeling just got stronger and stronger."  
  
"So you want to be with her to protect her?" Atelli asked. Monty was getting slightly bothered by these questions. They seemed to be trying to pinpoint the meaning of something that didn't have one.  
  
"I guess. Why do you ask?"  
  
"No reason." Atelli returned her gaze to the window.  
  
"I have some news." The Mewtwo walked into the room. Noticing Schnoodle, still asleep on the couch, the Mewtwo lifted a paw. The Venusaur easily lifted into the air as it glew with a blue light. The Mewtwo placed it down a little to the right, and then sat on the couch. Eclipse flew in after it, looking concerned.  
  
"News? About what?" Monty asked. The Mewtwo blinked twice.  
  
"I may know where Drak is."  
  
  
Chapter 12  
  
"Cyrus"  
  
  
"You've got to stop doing that, sir. It makes me worry." Drak awoke to a voice speaking softly near him. Recognizing it as Teishi's, Drak sat up. This time, the dizziness and blackness was very faint. Maybe he was getting used to this strange feeling. Teishi was sitting at the foot of his bed, looking, as usual, pale and thin.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"You've been out for two days. I'm glad you finally woke up...they wouldn't let me sleep until you did." Teishi smiled at Drak, but it was not returned.  
  
"Wouldn't let you sleep?"  
  
"No, I was supposed to watch you, wasn't I? Since I wasn't there to watch you when you passed out, I have to watch you until you wake up."  
  
"You haven't slept for two days? Aren't you tired?" Drak moved his leg, and found that it wasn't responding to him. The recent stressful days had helped him forget about his dis-ability, but now his limp was coming back with a vengeance.  
  
"I slept for almost 10 hours when I...was in the infirmiary, so I'm fine. What's wrong with your leg?"  
  
"An old injury...my leg was...it does this sometimes. It's a limp."  
  
"I noticed that you limped, but I didn't know that it was this bad. Can you move it?"  
  
Drak tried, but his leg only remained on the bed, motionless. He stared at it, frustrated. He wondered how Mewtwo was doing. How as it dealing with it's seperation from him? Was it coping? Did it know who it was? Was it wondering where he was? Would it ever find him?  
  
"You've got that look again." Teishi said, smiling.  
  
"What look?"  
  
"You may not know it, but when you start thinking about something, you get this look on your face and your eyes start glowing softly." Teishi kept his gaze directly locked with Drak's, a sign that he was in a good mood. Drak could see large shadows beneath Teishi's eyes and could tell he was exhausted. Drak wondered how Teishi could stand living like this.  
  
"Where's Prof. Denka?" Drak asked, remembering the kind man. He struggled to remember what had happened that had caused him to pass out. Teishi looked thoughtful.  
  
"Prof. Denka is in his laboratory, of course. I think he's trying to construct something."  
  
"Can I see him?"  
  
Teishi laughed slightly. "Oh no no no. You can't leave here without permission. Ever since whatever-it-is attacked you twice, they're being extra careful."  
  
Two names suddenly flashed in Drak's mind.  
  
"Do you know who Surepa and Barrier-D are?" Drak asked. Teishi blinked his green eyes.  
  
"Oh no. Did you talk with them?"  
  
Drak smiled to himself and shook his head.  
  
"Never mind..."  
  
"Anyway, Dr. Kagakusha asked me to get you ready, 'cause she wants to talk to you."  
  
"Dr. Kagakusha? Why would she want to talk to me? I would think only Dr.Dowasure would want to-"  
  
"I don't know." Teishi interrupted Drak's questions with a shrug. "She just told me she wants to talk to you. She says she wants to meet you..." Teishi rubbed his arms slightly, flinching as he touched his own wounds. "Where you last passed out."  
  
"Where did I last pass out?" Drak said, his attention again brought to the bruises on Teishi's arms. Not wanting to disturb Teishi, who seemed tired and frightened already, Drak didn't ask.  
  
"..." Teishi kept staring at Drak. "You last passed out...in the M-2 Lab, sir." Teishi sounded slightly awkward. Drak looked down.  
  
"M-2...M-2..." Drak said to himself. It struck him suddenly. Where he had seen that horrible M-2 Specimen A. Where Mewtwo had spent most of it's life. Where the failed experiments were. "Why would she want me there?"  
  
"I guess she wants to figure out why you passed out,sir...I mean, Drak." Teishi tried to stop himself from slipping into his old habit. "She told me to bring you there when you were ready."  
  
Drak sighed to himself, trying to force the horrible image of M-2 Specimen A out of his mind. He remembered it's eyes...like blue-purple holes...and he couldn't help shuddering. But he wanted to know about C and D...he wanted to see Prof. Denka again...he wanted to find an escape from this horrible place. If going to talk with Kagakusha would get him out of here, then he would do it.  
  
"I'm ready...so take me."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Take me." Drak said with more force. Teishi shrugged and stood. Drak could tell by his movement that he desperatly wanted to sleep. He felt a tinge of guilt for making the poor boy stay up at all hours . He didn't want to cause Teishi pain or trouble...it seemed that he had enough of that before he had come along. Drak stood and nearly fell as his leg gave way. He found Teishi supporting him, keeping him on his feet.  
  
"Careful, sir. Move slowly until your leg works."  
  
Drak was appreciative of the support but didn't want to keep encouraging Teishi to give up his own comfort for his. "Stop calling me sir."  
  
Teishi blushes slightly, staggering underneath Drak's weight. Althought Drak was, by nature, a rather thin and tall boy, apparently this was more then the exhausted and tired Teishi could handle comfortably. Drak again felt a tinge of guilt, and placed one of his won arms around Teishi's shoulders. "I'm sorry..." Teishi said softly. "It's a habit..."  
  
They began walking down the halls, Teishi leading. He seemed to know where he was going.  
  
"When I'm there and you have to leave, I demand you get some sleep." Drak said with a hint of a smile. Teishi smiled back, although not in the same way.  
  
"I'm not leaving."  
  
"What?" Drak blinked.  
  
"I can't...they...they were angry at me for letting it happen to you again...so now I have to be with you everywhere...can't let you out of my sight..."  
  
"Who does this to you? Who makes you do these things against your will?"  
  
Teishi looked uncomfortable and Drak again felt guilt. "I can't say, sir."  
  
"Why not? Will they beat you?  
  
Teishi twitched a little, but didn't react. Drak found himself secretly satisified that he had finally found something that made Teishi react. Teishi kept his eyes fixedly where he placed his feet, as if frightened he would step on something. His voice took an odd edge to it.  
  
"They...they don't beat me, sir, I don't know where you would get a idea like that, sir..."  
  
"Where did those bruises on your arms come from?" Drak asked harshly. He was getting frustrated at how frightened Teishi sounded...how obedient.  
  
"...Sir, please, I...there are...there are certain things that...sir...sometimes....Sir, remember I said about the button, sir? Sometimes, sir, that's not quite enough, sir..."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"..." Teishi kept staring forward and sighed. "They told me to make you happy, sir. If I told you, would it make you happy?"  
  
Drak blinked then nodded.  
  
"I'm...well, sir, you can see it. I'm not the strongest person around, sir. Sometimes people want me to do things, but I can't because I'm tired or I'm too weak, sir...so they...they...they signal their displeasure in different ways, sir."  
  
"Teishi, you have to stop this. This isn't healthy for you. Look at you! You haven't slept for two days and are practically carrying me and my limp leg around without a single complaint. Why?"  
  
"Complaining, sir, I've learned just makes things worse. I think this is it, sir." Teishi seemed very uncomfortable now, and Drak could feel him trembling, but with fear or cold he couldn't tell.  
  
"If it makes you unhappy, why did you tell me?" Drak peered at Teishi, but he kept his eyes forward.  
  
"I don't have a choice, sir. People like you have choices, but I don't sir. That's why I'm here, so I-"  
  
"Teishi, sit."  
  
"I'm going to open the door." Teishi leaned forward and opened the door to the M-2 Lab. Drak stubbornly hung back, thus forcing Teishi to stare at the open doorway.   
  
"Teishi, you have to listen to me. Everyone can change their life, it just takes a matter of deciding."  
  
"Sir, you don't understand. I'm sorry I can't make it clearer, but I'm supposed to bring you in here,sir..."  
  
Drak reluctantly walked into the lab, the glass tubes throwing the weak light into scattered refractions on the floor. Drak could not suppress a shudder, although Teishi didn't seem to be bothered. He sat directly on the floor, leaving one of the few seats open for Drak. Drak looked at him, but Teishi's face registered no emotion.  
  
"Do you want to sit?"  
  
"You sit first, sir. I'll sit somewhere else, if you want."  
  
Drak sat reluctantly, but couldn't help but feel angry at Teishi for acting like this.  
  
"Hello? Is someone in here?" a voice rang through the empty lab, but echoed so much it was hard to tell whether it was male or female.  
  
Drak looked at Teishi for guidance, but he just sat passively and said nothing, staring at a spot on the floor. Drak shrugged.  
  
"I'm over here..." Drak called. The voice came again.  
  
"Good! I've been looking for you! I don't understand how you could just dissapear-" there was the vague sound of footsteps and rustling paper.  
  
"That sounds like..." Drak thought to himself. Something white slid by on the tile floor and slammed into the wall.  
  
"Dr.Dowasure." Teishi said respectfully, registering no emotion. The white and black lump managed to lift itself up and brush itself off. The Doctor looked no worse the wear for his fall, but seemed a little dissheveled. Upon seeing Drak, he rushed forward happily.  
  
"Thank goodness! I was worried! We've had a security breach and I thought, thank goodness we didn't have a problem on our hands-"  
  
"Is that why Teishi was assigned to watch me? What's going on?" Drak asked the forgetful man. Dr. Dowasure pulled his Ponytail forward and began playing with it nervously, trying to remember.  
  
"Um...someone undesirable, I think, broke into the facility a while ago. So we were worried about you and needed someone to watch you."  
  
"Teishi." Drak said. While the two discussed him, Teishi sat passively on the floor, not saying anything.  
  
"Yes, yes. Fascinating, isn't it? By the way, what are you doing here?" Dr. Dowasure looked around, letting his ponytail fall back behind him. Drak looked around.  
  
"Don't you know? Dr. Kagakusha wanted to see me."  
  
"She did? How very peculiar! She didn't tell me anything of that sort." Dr. Dowasure adjusted his glasses that had miraculously survived his collision with the wall and looked upwards. "She is supposed to inform Me, I'm the head of this research anyway. That's very strange."  
  
"She didn't tell you? Why wouldn't she?"  
  
Dr. Dowasure shrugged lightly. "I don't know. She's a very strange lady. Anyway, are you okay? Is your leg okay?"  
  
"I don't remember telling you about my limp." Drak said suspiciously, backing away. Dr. Dowasure laughed slightly.  
  
"It's obvious! Even when you sit, there's a certain quality about it. You favor one side, and so on."  
  
"Doctor, can you tell me something?"  
  
"It depends if I remember." Dr. Dowasure laughed again. Drak, however, was very serious. He stared at the tubes around him.  
  
"Who was M-2 Specimen C? And D? Who or what were they and what happened to them?"  
  
Dr.Dowasure almost seemed to be in shock for a few moments, but then recoiled.  
  
"Who told you that?"  
  
"Prof. Denka."  
  
"I should have thought!" Dr. Dowasure's irreplacable smile returned. "He likes to talk. Anyway, he shouldn't have told you. That may cause a relapse."  
  
"Relapse of what? Another fainting seizure?" Drak said angrily, glaring at the man. Dr.Dowasure didn't seem to notice.  
  
"I've found a pattern, and it's fairly obvious! Triggered by saying a certain keyword, I believe, of something that you blocked from memory..."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Drak felt uneasy.  
  
"Let me see...." Dr. Dowasure leaned forward, looking directly into Drak's eyes. "I think a common sign is the dilation of the pupils-"  
  
"Dr. Dowasure!" Teishi's startled voice came seconds before the gunshot.  
  
Dr.Dowasure gave a surprised gasp and fell to one side, clutching his shoulder. Drak jumped to his feet, ready to flee, while Teishi scooted over to Dr. Dowasure's side.   
  
The man who had shot Dr.Dowasure flipped his gun back into a holster on his side and closed his long trenchcoat. He had oddly cut, white-purple hair, the left side being much longer then the right. The back of his head was shaved except for a small ponytail, tied with a rubber band, that stuck out from behind him. He raised thin hands to his lips and took a deep drag of his cigarette before apparently noticing Drak for the first time. Drak nearly screamed when he saw his eyes. The man's eyes were large, but pupiless, instead changing from purple near the top of his eyes to light blue near the bottom. The man stared at Drak, then smirked slightly.  
  
"Name's Zairus." the man said. Drak could easily sense a accent, one that seemed to change his C's to Z's. It took Drak a moment to realize that he had not said Zairus, but Cyrus. Drak stared as the man continued to gaze at Dr. Dowasure on the floor. He grimaced, as if deciding something, then looked back at Drak. He paused, took another drag on his cigarette, then looked around him. It suddenly struck Drak as he remembered the man's face, the same manner and accent. It was the same man who had captured Mewtwo so long ago and forced him to fend for himself in society.  
  
"Cyrus..." he said again, his accent changing how it sounded. Drak had gotten the hang of listening to it already and could tell what he really wanted to say. "but I guess you'd prolly know me better as M-2 Specimen C." 


	6. Found

Chapter 13  
  
"Beginning"  
  
  
"The what?" Atelli said skeptically, giving the Mewtwo a odd look. The Mewtwo ignored her skepticism. Speaking the words had obviously caused him great pain, His face seemed marked with tear streaks and his paws were clenched, blue energy beginning to flow around them. His leg was motionless...obviously a sign of the limp getting stronger.  
  
"The Pokémon Genetic Research Institute." The Mewtwo thought with barely suppressed anger. Monty winced.  
  
"Do you know where it is?"  
  
"I...can't remember. But I know that's where he is. That's the only place he could be."  
  
"Don't worry, Mewtwo." Atelli sat next to the large Pokémon, placing a hand around his shoulders. He looked at her in confusion. "We'll find Drak. I know he means a lot to you and he's your best and probably only friend. We'll find him and we'll make whoever took him pay."  
  
The Mewtwo clenched his paws harder, his eyes narrowing. He nodded.  
  
"Gencey Gencey! Gen gen!" Eclipse fluttered near the door and back, heralding the arrival of Ella E and her two unwilling companions. Colt was blushing and looked very unhappy. Caleb looked uncomfortable.  
  
"Thank goodness I can get out of this uncomfortable thing..." Colt picked at his Tux and instantly vacated the room after seeing the Mewtwo under the false pretense. No one seemed to notice. Ella E flopped down on the remains of the other couch, staring at Schnoodle who snored in the corner. Caleb sat beside her.  
  
"How was the funeral?" Atelli finally asked.  
  
"Depressing. Did you learn anything?" Ella E put her hands in her hair and sighed.  
  
"Mewtwo says Drak might be at the Pokémon Genetic Research Institute, wherever that is." Atelli said carefully. She jumped back at Ella E's hysterical reaction.  
  
"WE HAVE TO FIND HIM! Where is it, Mewtwo, Where?" she grabbed the Mewtwo by the shoulders. Had anyone less then it's best and only friends love had grabbed him, he would have incinerated them, but the Mewtwo exerted amazing control.  
  
"I know he's there...but I can't remember where it is. I...I don't want to remember."  
  
"If you don't, then we can't save Drak. Please, Mewtwo?" Atelli asked. The Mewtwo clenched it's paws and held them to it's head angrily.  
  
"I can't remember! I made myself forget and I can't...I can't remember..."  
  
Ella E noticed that Caleb had stood and was looking at a phone book.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Maybe there's somethin on that Genetic place or whatever it's called." Caleb flipped through the book. Ella E waved a hand.  
  
"I doubt it. I bet a place like that would be very hush-hush or whatever. Can you TRY, Mewtwo?" She turned her gaze again to the pained Pokémon, whose eyes flashed a angry blue.  
  
"Can't you see that I AM!? As hard as I CAN!" he thought powerfully. Luckily, it wasn't quiet so powerful as to wound those that sat around it, but it did put off that topic of asking for assistance for a while. Eclipse patted him on the head and the Mewtwo sighed.  
  
"No luck. I don't think we should ask the operator for assistance, either. I don't think anyone knows where it is."  
  
"Hmmm...wouldn't it be where Drak was found?" Atelli said idly. To her surprise, she got an answer.  
  
"Yes." the Mewtwo said simply. Atelli blinked. "I...I remember that the PGRI was around the area where I lived and Drak was left. I...I can't remember it all...just..just the pain..." the Mewtwo said softly, burying his head in his paws. Eclipse stroked it's forehead consolingly, but the Mewtwo would not look up. Atelli considered this.  
  
"So it's somewhere around the Unknown Caves..." she said finally. "But that's a big area...and we have no way of getting there."  
  
"That's strange..." Caleb put the phonebook down and sat on the couch. "I remember something about one of those kind of labs being on islands, usually."  
  
"Not this one." Mewtwo said mentally.  
  
"Well, instead if trying to find out where it is and wearing outselves out, let's think of what we'll do when we get there." Monty said sensibly. The others realized the wisdom in this and nodded. "We'll need our strongest Pokémon, most likely."  
  
Ella E looked down at the empty Pokéballs on her belt and tried to look through the sea of Meowths to see any of her Pokémon. The only one immediatly available was Beef, who was flying around the room looking for somewhere to perch. She stuck out her arm and her Spearow landed on it easily and made a happy noise.  
  
"They're all around here somewhere...who should I take, I wonder..."  
  
"Gen gen gencey, cey gen gen cey cey cey cey gen." Eclipse said quietly. Ella E nodded in her direction.  
  
"Yes, I understand that you want to stay with Mewtwo and not fight with me. It's okay." Secretly, Ella E felt a pang of lonliness. She had always liked Eclipse...letting her go would be hard. But there would be more important things to do now.  
  
"I'll probably take Charles too, wherever he is. Charles...Gogo...that makes three...I guess that means Boo, Facet, and Warp will finish it off...No, I think I'll leave Warp for Growlissa." At the mention of the name, Ella E's voice took a odd tinge.  
  
"What about THAT?" Atelli pointed at her sister's left arm. Static noticed this and hissed angrily.  
  
"I can't get rid of it...but I don't want it to battle either, cause it may evolve...so I'll try to avoid it. What about all of you?"  
  
"All of us?" Monty looked surprised.  
  
"You're all coming, right? Who are YOU bringing?"  
  
Caleb decided to speak first.  
  
"I'll take Charmeleon, Rattata, Pidgeotto, Nidorino, and Meowth...that's all I have..." he counted carefully and shrugged. Monty smiled.  
  
"More then me. I've got Ivysaur, Gloom, Tangela, and Weepinbell."  
  
"I'm taking the usual." Atelli said quickly before anyone could react. "Dewy, Schnoodle, Trinity, Kudos, Heeoom, and Autumnn."  
  
"Who said YOU were going?" Ella E said with a uncustomary flash of anger. Instantly, both Caleb and Monty backed away. Atelli responded in the same way.  
  
"You said everyone was coming! And I've got as much a right to come as you!"  
  
"You do not! You just jumped in and pretended to know what you were doing! You don't know anything about Drak or where he is!"  
  
"I do too, I was here when we talked about it."  
  
"You're not coming! You don't understand how serious this is!"  
  
"I don't understand? I don't understand? You're just being a spoiled brat that wants everything to herself!"  
  
"I do not! You're just a big, bossy, snobby, stupid dork who's obsessed over someone who doesn't exist!"  
  
Both the girls were face to face now and were breathing in short gasps of anger.  
  
"I don't CARE what you say, I'm COMING!"  
  
"You are NOT!"  
  
Colt walked in, pulling a shirt over his head. He looked much happier.  
  
"So, what's going on?" he noticed the two girls glaring at eachother. "Uh oh."  
  
"What are YOU looking at?" they both shouted at Colt at the same time. He was thinking of retreating again when the Mewtwo looked up.  
  
"Stop this arguing. It will not help us. If the two of you could put aside your differences for the moment, I believe Atelli should come." Mewtwo held up a paw to silence Ella E's furious outburst. "The reasoning for this is simple. The people at this lab...created me." At this point, the Mewtwo looked pained again. "If they could create something like me with so much power, then we would need all the help we could get to defeat whoever it is that's guarding Drak and take him back with us."  
  
Atelli looked smug and Ella E looked furious, but in the end the logic was inassailable. Monty attempted to change the subject.  
  
"So, Colt, who are you taking along?" Colt looked around and noticed everyone else's eyes on him. He shrugged.  
  
"I only have one Pokémon left...that's a Vulpix." Colt sighed. Ella E felt a tinge of guilt.  
  
"I'm sorry about Growlissa..."  
  
"Don't worry...if I had the chance, I would still give her to you." Colt smiled. Ella E smiled back.  
  
"So what is it we have between us? A Vulpix, a Growlithe, A Weepinbell, A Tangela, A Rattata, a Nidorino, a Pidgeotto, a Charmeleon, a Meowth, a Ivysaur, a Bulbasaur, a Spearow, a Eevee, a Porygon, and-"  
  
"Nyaaaaa!" The Nyashock tore into the room, pursued by a dozen angry Meowths, and threw itself bodily into Ella E. There it sank it's claws into her shirt and refused to let go.  
  
"Hmmm..where's Boo? BOO?" Ella E called out.  
  
"Eeeee?" a small voice said from near her.  
  
"Boo, would you mind if I took Nyashock with me instead of you?"  
  
Boo looked relieved, actually. "Eeeee!"  
  
"Okay then. Continue." she said to Atelli, who looked annoyed at her list being broken.   
  
"A Nyashock...hmmm...where was I?" Atelli looked thoughtful. Remembering, she continued. "A Dewgong, a Tauros, a Golduck, a Raichu, a Dragonair, and a Venusaur. Is that it?"  
  
"Not quite." Ella E said. She placed a hand on the Mewtwo, whose head remained held in his paws. "We've still got Mewtwo, our Ace."  
  
"I don't know what I want anymore..." The Mewtwo thought to himself and his mother. "I want to save Drak, but I don't want to go back to that terrible place...I'm frightened but I'm angry..."  
  
"Gen gen..." Eclipse patted it again.  
  
"So...now that we know what we have, we have to find a source of information..." Monty said logically, trying to think this out correctly. "Let's say this PGRI place exists..."  
  
"Not this again. Can't you believe in anything without proof?" Caleb said angrily. Monty ignored him. The Mewtwo shivered.  
  
"Then who would most likely know about a secret organization like that? The Higher-Ups." Monty gestured broadly with his hand. "the Gym Leaders, almost definitly the League Champion..."  
  
"Red!" Ella E said with a flash of inspiration. "I can call Radic and ask him whether Red knows!" Monty smiled at her recognition as she dashed towards the phone. She punched in a few rapid numbers and waited. The rest of her friends waited tensely.  
  
"Hello, can I speak to Radic?....Radic....R-a-d-i-c. He should be staying with Red....yes, THAT Radic....Yes, the Loser. I need to talk to him. I'm his Cousin, Ella E. Can you connect me?...Where are they?...Why?...Well, that doesn't sound very good. The League Champion shouldn't be able to do that...well, I'm not assigned to watch over him either! I don't care where he is, find him!...The Hospital? Why?............oh...Well, is he awake?...Well, tell Radic to ask Red whether he knows where...you might want to get some paper for this...don't talk like that to me! Just do it!....thank you. I'm looking for the Pokémon Genetic Research Institute. Want me to repeat that?...Jeez, don't over-react. I was just asking. They may call it the PGRI. Just ask for me, please? Tell them to call me back right away." Ella E hung up the phone and then immediatly rambled off onto a tangent about how rude some people were.  
  
"So what happened?" Atelli asked.  
  
"Radic and Red are in the hospital right now...more precisely, Red is. Or at least, that's that operator's best guess. I would suppose that Radic is there too. Anyway, until he finds them again, we're stuck." Ella E shrugged helplessly and flopped over on the couch.  
  
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Colt said, a slight undercurrent of frustration in his voice. Caleb looked at him but didn't say anything.  
  
"Not unless we can find a alternate source of information." Monty sighed listlessly.  
  
The doorbell rang, causing numerous Meowths to leap five feet in the air, hiss, and run, leaving a cloud of fur. Caleb glared at Monty.  
  
"Why is it that whenever you say something like that, something conveniently always happens?"  
Monty shrugged. "Good luck, I guess."  
  
Ella E was the first to navigate her way out of the mass of fur and towards the door, throwing it open with a cough. Standing there was a girl with long black hair and sad, painful eyes. She looked very familiar, although Ella E could not exactly place from where. She looked at Ella E and tears began running down her face.  
  
"Please...Ella E...help me find my sister..." she said softly.  
  
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Ella E said curiously. The girl seemed crushed by this news.  
  
"You don't remember me? I supposed you wouldn't. You've probably forgotten about us by now. I need your help, though."  
  
"I can't help you right now, I have to go somewhere-"  
  
"I'm asking you as a former friend!" the girl grasped her hand, her eyes pleading. Ella E pulled away.  
  
"Who are you? What's your name? I don't remember-"  
  
"It's me..." the Dark-haired girl said slowly. "Kotake."  
  
  
Chapter 14  
  
"Wounds"  
  
  
"I know what yer thinkin'." Cyrus looked at Drak steadily with his strange eyes. Drak shrinked away, fear and confusion mixing on his face. Cyrus snorted derisivily at Drak's reaction. "I didn't mean it literally, kid. God. I was just sayin' that yer prolly thinkin' of me as Mewthree, huh?"  
  
Drak didn't move and didn't respond, unsure of what the correct answer would be. Given his choices, motionlessness turned out to be the best. With a flick of his wrist, Cyrus' pistol was aimed directly between Drak's eyes.  
  
"Well, don't. If you wanna live past this whole mess, then don't call me that, 'kay kid? 'M Cyrus."  
  
"Why are you doing this?" Drak said, chancing a look over at Teishi and Dr. Dowasure. Teishi had ripped up his already torn shirt and was wrapping the ragged strips around Dr. Dowasure's wounded shoulder. For once, Dr. Dowasure looked genuinely worried...he kept looking back and forth between Drak and Cyrus. Cyrus inhaled on his cigarette, then flicked it off to one side.  
  
"Why do you care? You wanna leave, don't you kid? Well, here I am. Come with me or stay here. Yer choice." Cyrus' thick accent got a little harder to understand the faster he talked, but fortunately Cyrus seemed to take his time when he spoke. Drak looked at him curiously.  
  
"You captured Mewtwo...you took me away from the only life I'd known and entrapped my friend...why should I trust you?"  
  
"They did the same thing, kid." Cyrus shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "They kidnapped you, didn't they? They took you away from your friend. So 'M here to help."  
  
"No you're not. You want something. I'm not leaving until I know what." Drak backed away uneasily. Cyrus, in response, cursed loudly.  
  
"Fine, kid. 'M here for another reason, 'kay? I don't have to tell YOU, tho'."  
  
Drak tried to think of a response, but it was then that Cyrus' attention was brought back to Dr. Dowasure, who as adjusting his glasses and holding his arm.  
  
"You..." Cyrus said with contempt in his voice. He strode over to where Dr. Dowasure kneeled on the floor, grabbed him by the front of his labcoat, and raised him easily. It took apparently no effort on Cyrus' part. Dr. Dowasure gave a small, frightened noise as he dangled from the floor. Cyrus was far taller then he was, apparently from his Pokémon side. Cyrus glared hatefully at Dr. Dowasure's frightened brown eyes. "I never wanted to see YOU again."  
  
"I...they told me that you were...you were killed..." Dr. Dowasure gasped out under the pressure. Drak could tell that he was trying desperatly to remember things under this stress. He knew from experience that the more stress was put on Dr.Dowasure, the more likely he was to forget things.Cyrus shook Dr. Dowasure in response, and the scientist gave another frightened gasp.  
  
"'M still alive, Doc. What do you think of that? You and your stupid guards and guns couldn't kill something like me. That YOU made."  
  
"I didn't...I don't remember-"  
  
"Didn't think you would, moron." Cyrus said angrily. Drak made a mental guess that Cyrus knew more about Dr. Dowasure then the scientist most likely knew about him. "They ordered me to be taken out and shot, but I was too strong for that."  
  
"I don't understand...I didn't make-"  
  
"Shut up!" Cyrus shook Dr. Dowasure again, who closed his eyes and whimpered. "You people still won't stop...yer workin on E now, aren't you? I bet. Well, this time I'm not too late. I'm going to stop you once and for all."  
  
"I didn't do anything!" Dr. Dowasure gasped out. "I created the theory behind the cloning, but had no idea that it was being used in...in..." Drak recognized the expression on Dr. Dowasure's face. The expression that he got when he was trying to remember something.  
  
"Not now, Dr. Dowasure!" he thought fiercely. "You have to remember! He might kill you if you say something wrong!"  
  
Dr. Dowasure closed his eyes and thought hard, trying to remember. The stress had become so great that he was barely able to remember his name, much less what they had been talking about. He could feel Cyrus' grip on his shirt tensing.  
  
"Mew Cloning? You honestly expect me to believe it wasn't yer brilliant idea, Doc, to make a bunch of Mews runnin' around with little touch-ups?"  
  
"No!" Dr. Dowasure gasped out, relieved that he didn't have to remember. "Cloning was intended for...for medical...medical..." Dr. Dowasure trailed off, unable to remember. Cyrus' shook him again angrily, and Dr. Dowasure gave a short cry of fear.  
  
"You knew, and yer behind this...I won't let you create another me...I won't let you ruin so many other peoples lives..." Cyrus growled. Drak stood to say something, but before he could Cyrus' rammed his knee into Dr. Dowasure's chest, eliciting a short, stunned cry from Dr. Dowasure. Cyrus dropped him, where Dr. Dowasure held his chest and tried to regain his breath, his glasses lying off to one side.   
  
"Stop! He's telling the truth!" Drak rushed forward, but again the pistol was aimed at him.  
  
"What do you know, kid?" Cyrus said angrily. He kicked the scientist beneath him angrily, causing another gasp of pain. "You don't know anything 'cept what B told you, and I bet it wasn't much. Let's go."  
  
"I'm not leaving!" Drak said angrily. "Not until you explain what's happening!"  
  
"God, kid, I don't have time for this @#^&." Cyrus' swore angrily. "The sound from the gun'll get those guards on me and then I won't get out of here and neither will you. So shut up and get moving."  
  
"Dr. Dowasure sir, are you okay?" Teishi said softly. Dr. Dowasure panted briefly.  
  
"Not...really..." he whispered. Teishi pulled him up off the floor, drawing the attention of Cyrus.  
  
"Who's this?" he asked Drak, looking at the younger boy. Teishi stared at Cyrus steadily without fear. Drak was surprised at this.  
  
"Teishi...he...he takes care of me." Drak said quickly, trying to keep Cyrus from doing anything rash.  
  
"A slave. Huh. Didn't think they had those anymore." Cyrus shrugged. Drak rushed towards Cyrus in anger, but Teishi remained silent.  
  
"He's not a slave!"   
  
Cyrus blinked an eye, and instantly a mental shield formed between him and Drak, knocking the boy back a few feet. Cyrus gave a unimpressed noise.  
  
"Stupid kid, real stupid. I got as much power as yer friend B, maybe more. Don't push me."  
  
"Don't call him B! His name is Mewtwo!" Drak said, feeling angry for no reason. Cyrus regarded him impassively, the Pupiless eyes seeming to take in everything.  
  
"B is better. Less insulting. Get up, you." Cyrus aimed another kick at Dr. Dowasure, knocking him from his half sitting position to the floor. Dr. Dowasure didn't struggle as Cyrus grabbed him by the back of his collar and hauled him roughly upright. He did, however, look frightened. "We can use you as a hostage."  
  
"Wait a minute!" Drak said, but Cyrus then grabbed Teishi by the wrist.  
  
"You know too much, so yer coming along too."  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" Drak said angrily. Cyrus sighed, let go of Teishi, then grabbed Drak, dragging him forward.  
  
"I don't have time for this! Let's go!" he said angrily. Drak pulled against him, but Cyrus was far stronger then he looked. He noted Teishi standing off to one side, confused and unsure of what exactly he had to do. Drak got an idea.  
  
"Teishi, go and get someone to help me! Tell them that me and Dr. Dowasure are being kidnapped!"  
  
"Do it, kid, and I'll shoot you." Cyrus said to Teishi without even looking at him. Teishi blinked his green eyes and looked back and forth between Drak and Cyrus. He sighed.  
  
"I can't watch over you if I'm shot..." he said to Drak, unable to think of anything better. Drak groaned.  
  
"I don't understand why yer freakin' out about this, kid." Cyrus said as he pulled him and Dr. Dowasure, who was still coughing, out of the room with the glass tubes. "I'm rescuin' you, you should be happy."  
  
"It's because that's not REALLY what you're doing. You're planning on using me for some other reason. What are you going to do?" Drak said, trying to pull away. Cyrus refused to let go.  
  
"#%&, I don't need to tell YOU, kid. You wouldn't understand, anyway." Cyrus mumbled. Drak pulled harder, but Cyrus seemed to have inhuman strength. It figured.  
  
"At least try...I may be able to understand more then you think." Drak looked at Dr. Dowasure, who had at some point along the way picked up his glasses. "What about you, Dr. Dowasure? Don't you know anything?"  
  
"Yeah, Doc..." Cyrus said with contempt. "Why don't you tell 'em about us? The M-2 series, eh?"  
  
"I can't...can't remember..." Dr. Dowasure put his hands to his head as if in pain. Drak could see the common expression he had when he was trying to remember something. Drak rolled his eyes.  
  
"You can't remember anything!" Cyrus said, frustrated. Dr. Dowasure cringed and pressed his hands to his head harder.  
  
"Stop pressuring me! I can't remember if people keep yelling at me!"  
  
"Yer no scientist." Cyrus said with contempt, watching the reaction this gave him. Dr. Dowasure looked almost genuinely hurt. "No real scientist would forget things so easy. You're just some stupid man with no memory who can't even-"  
  
"Stop it!" Drak said angrily. Cyrus turned to him, anger showing in the strange eyes.  
  
"Why, kid?" Cyrus sounded genuinely confused.  
  
"He doesn't forget because he wants to, you know. Do you think he wants to forget everything he thinks of? That he wants everyone mad at him all the time?"  
  
Cyrus looked at Dr. Dowasure, who was looking at Drak with surprise. Cyrus grudgingly shrugged.  
  
"No one who has a bad memory wants one. I'm sure he would love to remember things he says or what he thinks of. You shouldn't yell at him for something that's not his fault." Drak finished, wondering where Cyrus was leading them. He had kept walking steadily during this conversation and they were know traveling down the featureless hallways. Drak couldn't see how anyone could find their way around here...everything looked the same to him. Cyrus, however, seemed to know where he was going. Dr. Dowasure continued to stare at Drak in the same surprised manner. Drak didn't blame him...they had not been on exactly "friendly" terms ever since the first day they had met. Cyrus didn't respond to Drak's comment, instead giving a vague noise of disgust.  
  
"Where are you taking us...?" Drak asked after a long silence. Dr. Dowasure's shuffling footsteps and his own dragging ones were the only noise after the brief noise Cyrus had made. His feet made no noise, almost as if he was not really touching the floor. Drak was beginning to become frightened of the man as he appeared less and less human. The power and strange nature of Cyrus was foreign to Drak. Despite Drak's mind's best efforts, he could not pretend that Cyrus was human. There was something altogether disturbing about him...some aura around him that prevented the semblance of human nature or compassion within him. Drak knew at some point Cyrus was probably a human...but now...it seemed to be gone.  
  
"Out. I've said it before. God, kid, you must be slow or something." Cyrus said. Dr. Dowasure continued walking. Drak noticed that Dr. Dowasure had a tendency to drag his heels, giving an odd shuffling sound. Drak was still leaning all his weight against Cyrus' grip, but it didn't help. Drak pulled away, then automatically retreated into his mind. He found himself calling for Mewtwo's help, then stubbornly scolded himself for being so foolish. Mewtwo wasn't here, and no matter how much he asked and begged, Mewtwo remained trapped somewhere else...he was on his own in this frightening place.  
  
Cyrus stopped so suddenly that Teishi, who was walking behind Drak, ran into him and practically knocked both of them down. He turned on Drak with a flash of anger, his eyes slowly becoming more purple then blue.  
  
"What was that?" he asked quickly. Drak, trying to think of an answer, looked at Dr. Dowasure. He seemed to have recognized something and had dug a pencil out of his pocket and was, even now, writing on his sleeve. Drak tried to think of an answer that wouldn't end with him being shot.  
  
"Nothing..."  
  
"You did something. Is B here? Is that who you were askin' for?" Cyrus looked at Drak suspiciously. Drak shrugged helplessly, aware of Cyrus' tightening grip on his wrist.  
  
"I wasn't asking for anyone, I didn't-"  
  
"You can't fool me, kid." Cyrus said angrily, looking into Drak's eyes. Drak found this highly disturbing, but could not tear himself away. "I'm a M-2 myself, remember? I can feel psychic stuff like that. You just asked for someone. Really, really loudly. It was B, wasn't it? I bet B rubbed off some of his power on you."  
  
"I wasn't asking for anyone!" Drak said angrily.  
  
"You were askin' for B." Cyrus said, smiling now that he had figured this out. "You tried to establish the link thingy."  
  
"That's a nice way of putting it." Drak said contemptously. He looked at Dr. Dowasure, who, as he would have put it, was finding this completly "fascinating". He felt some hidden resentment towards Cyrus rising. Cyrus continued staring at him. He then laughed harshly.  
  
"Ha! So you got blue. Good for you, kid. I got violet. Violety-blue, really." Cyrus smiled.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Drak said angrily. Cyrus pointed to Drak's hands.  
  
"Look. Yer gettin' angry. See? That's what happens to psychics when they get mad. They glow. You got blue...that's B's color. I got violety-purple."  
  
"They're different?" Drak was surprised by this thought. Cyrus nodded.  
  
"Lemme think...Hmmm...A...A...I think A was....it was pink-blue..." Cyrus looked thoughtful. Drak watched him cautiously.  
  
"How would you know? A died."  
  
"Don't tell me it hasn't tried to talk to you yet." Cyrus looked surprised. Drak blinked.  
  
"Try to talk to me?"  
  
"Sure, it's dead, kid. I know the story all too well, considerin'. But I guess the best way to put it would be...when other things die, they decompose, right? I think that's the right word. Well, A can't decompose no more 'cause it's stuck in that tube. So it's mind is decomposin' by sendin' out those little messages."  
  
"Can you understand them? All I got were screams."  
  
"I know what they say, kid, but yer right. In the end, they're just screams. Screams for help, screams for death, that kind of thing. Creeps me out, really, and that's pretty bad, considerin' what I'VE been through. Right, Doc?" Cyrus nudged Dr. Dowasure hard, knocking him back a few feet. Dr. Dowasure had the sense at least not to retaliate. Cyrus returned his gaze to Drak.  
  
"Hey, kid, let me try something."  
  
Drak knew this kind of trick.  
  
"It depends what it is."  
  
"Suspicious #&$#%, aren't you?" Cyrus said with a smirk. Drak winced at the curse, although no one else seemed to notice. "I was just wondering whether you could get one of them link thingies goin' with me."  
  
"A psychic link with YOU?" Drak said, half-horrified and half-intrigued. After all, Cyrus had to at least be half a Pokémon...what would it be like? Would it be like the Manachu? That Pokémon acted more human then any Pokémon he had ever met.  
  
"Sure. It works between trainers and their Pokémon, right? I've always wondered what it feels like for those suckers who get caught like that. Of course, people have TRIED to get me, after they find out who I am." Cyrus smirked. "Don't take them long. You seem stronger then them all. See if you can get through into this mind of mine."  
  
"This is...this is crazy. No." Drak said, frightened of what he may find in Cyrus' mind. Cyrus smirked again.  
  
"Fine. I'll attack you, you defend."  
  
"No!" Drak backed away, but Cyrus' grip prevented him from escaping.  
  
"Oh please, Drak, try to establish a link. This could be important for science!" Dr. Dowasure said distractedly, writing on his sleeve busily. Drak glared at him, and returned his gaze to Cyrus to find the violet-blue, pupiless eyes staring at him.  
  
"Try me." Cyrus said seriously. Drak sighed. What choice did he have? Cyrus seemed so out of his mind he would most likely try to shoot Drak if he didn't do what he wanted.  
  
"Be careful, Sir!" Teishi said from behind him. He was relieved that Teishi was worried for him, then returned to Cyrus. Not sure of how exactly to make this work, Drak went into the place in his mind where he always waited for Mewtwo. As usual, he found nothing there. Sensing that this time he would have to make the first move, he gathered his mental power and tried to send it across the black void his mind constructed.  
  
He could hear a brief obscenity from Cyrus and he opened his eyes. He was fully aware of the bright blue light they gave off, but was more interested in Cyrus.   
  
Cyrus' eyes were glowing a strange shade of blue and purple. It wasn't either. It was a strange, sick looking color that made Drak feel odd. This color was flowing around Cyrus' entire body, causing his oddly cut hair to float off his head and his trenchcoat to billow. It seemed like Cyrus was actually trying , trying very hard at that, to block Drak. His eyes were a bright flare of the strange violet-blue that made Drak's eyes hurt. Drak, getting a inexplicable feeling of determination, wanted to break through Cyrus' defenses. He wasn't sure why...it was some primal urge within him to try and conquer this other force. His brain's general lack of creativity meant a higher emphasis on instinct, and thus Drak wanted to eliminate this competition. He tried harder, noticing that he was glowing a bright blue. This blue was unlike Mewtwo, much brighter and clearer, like the sky. Mewtwo's blue was darker, like deep water.  
  
"U...ugh..." Cyrus grunted as the energy flared powerfully around him. The violet-blue light had expanded from his body from a diffuse glow to an actual pulsing field of energy. Dr. Dowasure had backed away and was now writing all of this down frantically. Teishi was frightened and almost reached a hand out towards Drak, but in the end retreated it. He backed away.  
  
Drak could feel Cyrus' power enchroaching on his own as it began to overpower his attempts. Feeling angry at this attempt to defeat him, Drak tried harder, focusing his mental power. He had never done this before, but had felt Mewtwo doing this during a intense battle. He based his reactions on Mewtwo's, trying to recall what Mewtwo had done. He could sense his own bright light flaring off of his body as well. Ignoring the questions in his mind as to where this power came from and whether Mewtwo was close or not to give him this help, he sent everything he had at Cyrus.  
  
Cyrus' footing slipped, and he fell back, his defenses broken. In a bright rush, Drak's mental black abyss was filled with the bright, blinding violet light. Drak shielded his mental eyes and waited for a moment.  
  
He heard repeated swears of almost every variety imaginable, including some that sounded as if they were in Pokémon. He gingerly opened his eyes, flashes of color dancing in front of him.  
Cyrus glared at Drak. His trenchcoat was missing...apparently Drak or Cyrus had not thought to manifest it. Drak could see a black shirt that had one sleeve ripped and a gunbelt that crossed across Cyrus' chest, where the pistol he used so effectively was stored. Cyrus slowly rose from his kneeling position and walked over to the boy, who seemed as surprised as he was.  
  
"You got me, kid. 'M surprised. Where are we? Yer the expert, it seems." Cyrus looked around, confused. Drak was genuinely surprised at this himself, but mustered the strength to talk.  
  
"This is the space...hmm...what would be a good word for it? Let's say that we both sent the mental energy, and this is where it meets. So this is where we are. We can do anything here."  
  
"Really..." Cyrus said with no enthusiasm. He continued to look around, noticed he was floating, and didn't react. Drak was impressed. When he first realized it, he was surprised. "So this is a little space where we do what we want, right?"  
  
"Basically. This is what the link is like."  
  
"B's been here. I can tell. A lot." Cyrus sniffed. He shoved his hands in his tattered jeans. Drak noticed something written in black on his left shoulder.  
  
"What's that?" Drak pointed to it. Cyrus looked at it, then shrugged.  
  
"Just what all M-2's get, kid. If you want, you can look." Cyrus turned slightly. Tattoed on the shoulder were the symbols "M-2 Spc. C". Drak blinked, surprised, but Cyrus didn't look disturbed.  
  
"When...?" Drak said, trying to find words to describe how he felt. He was fascinated by this whole experience, yet he was horrified by what he kept finding. Cyrus looked off to one side.  
  
"Beats me. I can't remember not having it, so maybe when I was created, I guess."  
  
"How were you created?"  
  
"Doesn't B talk about it, kid?"  
  
"Mewtwo," Drak made a point of saying his Pokémons name clearly. In response, Cyrus grimaced. "doesn't like to talk about it. It says that remembering gives it bad memories."  
  
"Ha. Wuss." Cyrus laughed humourlessly. "He's got the whole "Identity-Crisis" thing goin' that the Doc was talkin' about, right? Chah." Cyrus made a general noise of contempt. "The whole "I was made, not born, I don't deserve to live, blah blah blah..." thing. I knew that B was a problem when I first saw it. Walking pile of psychological traumas."  
  
"When did you meet B?" Drak asked cautiously. He was resentful about hearing his best friend being spoken of this way, but wanted to know. He crossed his legs and sat in the air, watching Cyrus' reaction to this. Cyrus just watched him silently, then leaned back on nothing. Drak smiled at the thought this must be what Mr. Mime's are doing when they lean on something that's supposedly not there.  
  
"I was created after it, you know that by now, kid, no doubt." Cyrus smirked again. "So by the time I came around, they had got all they wanted from B and threw him out. Last week's news by that time. So I heard they shoved it in the unknown dungeon. Wasn't hard to establish a link, the distance wasn't long and it wasn't hard for me. So we talked a lot. It always represented itself as what looked like a light blue Mew. I think that's what it wanted to be. It always talked about how worthless it was and how it should be a Mew and blah blah blah...he was so BORING when he talked like that. Anyway, after a while, he stopped responding. So I quit sending. Then they decided that they were done with me and were going to create a new M-2, which meant I was the last week's news. Ha. The results of that are pretty clear."  
  
Drak was surprised at how long Cyrus talked. As far as he knew the strange man, he usually spoke directly and to the point. His accent was also getting far worse as he spoke. Drak supposed that's why he spoke so little...extended speaking made his accent more prominent.  
  
"How were you created?"  
  
Cyrus rolled his eyes (or at least, it looked like he did) and sighed.   
"You already asked that, kid, but fine. They just took a Human genome and a Mew genome and mixed 'em together. Got me."  
  
"But Mewtwo..."  
  
"B was just a total reconstruction of Mew based on a model. I was already half done on either side, so they just stuck me together. I suppose they thought the adaptiveness, I think that's the right word, of humans would help a M-2."  
  
"They combined humans with Pokémon?" Drak shook his head as he tried to comprehend this. Cyrus shrugged and a small cigarette flashed into the air in front of him. He smiled and took it between his lips.  
  
"This is pretty good, kid. You can do anything here, right?" Cyrus smiled as he blew some smoke rings. Drak mentally forced the smoke away from him.  
  
"They're making Mew clones out of people?" Drak repeated. Cyrus shrugged again.  
  
"I guess. A died, B went pretty crazy, so I guess they were running out of options. Came up with me. Heh, 'M human and 'M not quite human either. Got some of both, but not enough to be one or the other."  
  
"When you walk, I noticed you don't touch the floor..." Drak said softly. Cyrus nodded.  
  
"Right, right. There's one thing for you. I float, like those Mew things."  
  
"Have you ever seen a Mew?"  
  
"Seen pictures." Cyrus shrugged again, inhaling deeply on the cigarette. "Couldn't care less, honestly."  
  
"Why don't you feel bad like Mewtwo does? Is that a part of being what you are?" Drak asked. If HE was a M-2 clone, he would act much like Mewtwo. Why did this man seem so confident about himself?  
  
Cyrus laughed to himself softly. "I know what I am, kid. I don't care. I got better things to worry about then whether I should be alive or not. 'M alive, so why ask?"  
  
Drak thought about this for a moment while Cyrus formed the smoke with his hands and touch of psychic power into various shapes.  
  
"How powerful are you?"  
  
"Not enough, apparently." Cyrus laughed. "You got me, kid, 'M surprised...nothing's ever got past this." Cyrus pointed to his forehead. "B prolly couldn't touch me."  
  
"Did he ever try?"  
  
"Don't think so...why would he?" Cyrus shrugged again. Drak was surprised at how talkative he seemed now. He seemed to be warming to Drak slightly. Cyrus took the cigarette in his fingers. He pressed it into the back of his hand and watched as it continued burning as if his hand wasn't there. He smiled. "This thing doesn't exist, does it?"  
  
"Nothing here does. It's all in your head, I guess you could say." Drak smiled pleasantly. Cyrus laughed again and watched the cigarette disappear by the blink of one of his eyes.  
  
"So this is what it's like, kid. Never thought..."  
  
"Can you be captured?" Drak asked abruptly, not sure of why he thought of the question. Cyrus blinked and stared at him.  
  
"You ain't thinkin of catchin' me, are you kid? If you are, yer more stupid then I thought. I don't think it works on me. And I wouldn't let it, even if it did. I may be half-Pokémon, but 'M half-huma-"  
  
Cyrus gasped and then abruptly disappeared. Drak, puzzled, broke the link and looked around. Cyrus was on the ground, looking at his shoulder. His trenchcoat was back on, this causing him some slight surprise, and there was a slight rip in the fabric near his shoulder. Underneath some slight red showed.  
  
"Cyrus?" Drak asked.  
  
"Don't move, either of you." A feminine voice said from behind him.  
  
"Sir, I'm sorry, I tried to tell you, but you were to far away-"  
  
"Shut up. I told you to watch him. Look what happened to him! And Dr. Dowasure too, no less."  
Teishi tried to reply, but instead only mumbled a soft apology. He was relieved by the muffled laughter of Cyrus.  
  
"Heh...nice try." He mumbled, standing upright. "I got shields in case someone tries to shoot me. What are you trying to do?"  
  
"I'm trying to get you away from Drak. Step away, C, and surrender."  
  
"No." Cyrus said. "You can't hurt me."  
  
"Want to try your luck?" the voice said and there was a clicking sound from behind Drak. Drak turned and saw behind him the familiar form of Dr. Kagakusha, armed with a rifle, aimed directly at Cyrus' head. 


	7. Capture

Chapter 15  
  
"Ignition"  
  
  
"You DO know your sister was insane, right?"  
  
Kotake turned to Colt with a angry look on her face.  
  
"My sister was not insane." she said angrily, glaring at Colt. However, Ella E noticed that Kotake had lost some kind of spark when Kame had left...Kotake seemed lethargic and slow. The two must have been very close.  
  
"Then how do you explain Vermillion City? How do you explain the fact she nearly stabbed me to death in a underground cavern?" Colt retaliated, not backing away. If Drak were here, Ella E thought, no doubt he would have helped everyone calm down. But he wasn't here...  
  
"I don't know what my sister did after she left..." Kotake focused her gaze at the cup of hot chocolate she held in her hands. Her voice had a very tense edge to it, and she stared at Colt with anger. "All I know is that she is missing now, and Ella E is the only person I could think of who might know where she went."  
  
"I know where she went." Colt said spitefully. "She died down there. Ella E killed her."  
  
Ella E felt uncomfortable at the thought of having killed someone, especially if their sibling was sitting on the couch.  
  
Kotake shook her head, letting her dark hair flow past her face. "No. No matter how many times you tell me, I won't believe it. She isn't dead...I know she's alive..."  
  
"I really think she's dead, Kotake." Caleb said, trying to be consoling. "She hit the wall pretty hard...her and Max have never been seen again. They died, I'm sure of it-"  
  
"I don't care!" Kotake said abruptly, startling everyone in the room. "I KNOW she's alive! I KNOW she is! I'm her sister, I would know if she's dead! I know she's out there...looking for me..."  
  
"Looking for Red is more like it..." Colt muttered under his breath. Kotake ignored him.  
  
"You have to help me, Ella E." Kotake put down her cup and grasped Ella E's hands. "You have to help me find her. You're the only one who knows where she could be."  
  
Ella E shook her head and her hands, freeing them from her grasp.  
  
"I can't remember where I last saw her...I'm not sure where the cavern was...we found it by accident."  
  
"Drak found it, actually." Monty said from his position on the other side of the room. He was leaning against the still sleeping Venusaur, looking tired. Apparently Schnoodle was having an effect on him.  
  
"That's right...Drak was the one who pointed it out, after he was attacked by Reimia and Tashi..."  
  
Colt slammed a fist on the table involuntarily in fury, but didn't comment.  
  
"Please, Ella E. I promise that I'll help you, you can use my Pokémon. Help me find her." Kotake kept pleading. Ella E looked away.  
  
"I can't...I don't know where she is. And even if I did, I'm worried what would happen if we did find her again."  
  
"I think we should let her come with us." Atelli said. The others looked at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I think we should let her come with us." Atelli repeated herself. "I think she may have a good chance of finding her sister on our journey to the PGRI. Besides, she could always help us bust out Drak, anyway. We need all the help we can get, right Mewtwo?"  
  
The Mewtwo was trying to stay out of the conversation, but reluctantly shrugged.  
  
"I suppose, logically, that it would be a advantage to-"  
  
"The Mewtwo agrees with me! Let her come with us!" Atelli smiled. Kotake looked at her gratefully.  
  
"Oh, thank you, thank you..."  
  
"No." Ella E said, having another reason for refusing after finding her sister was for it. "It's dangerous, and Kame might not even recognize her if she saw her. She hit her head, she might not even remember who she is."  
  
"If she's alive." Colt said under his breath.  
  
"That's why we should find her!" Atelli said, gesturing broadly. "If she's dead, we can bury her. If she's hurt, we can bring her to a hospital. If she's got amnesia, we can help her remember."  
  
"Why should we? She's a psychotic murderer." Colt said angrily. Kotake turned on him again.  
  
"Don't say that! She wasn't!"  
  
"You weren't stuck underground with her, her partner, and two knives." Monty remarked flippantly from the other side of the room. No one noticed but Atelli, who smiled slightly.  
  
"Can't I come? Please?"  
  
"What about Ashstar? Can't you go with her?" Ella E grasped desperatly for some way out of this.  
  
"Ashstar?" Kotake wrinkled her face in disgust. "She's a known abuser and murderer of Pokémon. Why should I tell her anything?"  
  
"She's not that bad." Ella E said, trying to remember the things that Ashstar had done for her and not what she had done in the past.  
  
"You're exaggerating what she did." Caleb said, crossing his arms. "I'm sure she didn't mean it."  
  
"She meant it, all right. I don't ever want to see her again." Kotake crossed her arms much in the way Caleb had.  
  
Caleb rolled his eyes, and Kotake rolled hers right back. Colt began pacing back and forth.  
  
"I don't care whether she comes or not at this point." Colt said irritably. "I just want to get out of here and DO something. Let's go save Drak, let's go save Psycho-Murderer Lady, I don't care!" Colt ignored Kotake's protests. "Let's just go and DO something! We can't just sit here."  
  
"I agree." The Mewtwo stood, brushing itself off. "I vote we take immediate action. We've wasted as much time as it is."  
  
All of them looked at Ella E, including all the Meowth's scattered on the floor. She sighed.  
  
"Fine, she can come."  
  
Kotake grabbed her hand and shook it roughly.   
  
"Thank you, thank you! I know we'll find her! I KNOW we will!"  
  
"Let go..." Ella E pulled her hand away.  
  
"You shouldn't be so touchy." Atelli began walking towards the door. Ella E glared at her sister.  
  
"You'd be too if the sister of someone who tried to kill you repeatedly is shaking your hand!"  
  
"You're just stupid." Atelli shrugged and walked away, leaving a fuming Ella E. Caleb walked towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Calm down, Ella. She didn't mean it. She's just doing it to annoy you."  
  
Ella E reluctantly calmed down, but felt remarkably tense as she walked out the door, walking out onto the street. It was nearing dusk. She had not noticed thr passage of time as she and her companions had debated about the whole journey. Now that it was starting, she felt somewhat lighter. She sun was beginning to set and the air was crisp and cool. It was one of her favorite seasons, and she smiled and breathed in deeply. She felt some of her stress fading. Opening her eyes, she found that Colt was near her, with a look on his face that instantly told her he felt much the same way.   
  
Slowly, the others emerged from the house, carrying bags of what they felt they would need. She noticed that Atelli had put on a jacket, no doubt because she was cold. Ella E sighed inwardly and rolled her eyes. It wasn't cold. It was nice.  
  
"Which way is the unknown dungeon?" she turned to the Mewtwo. The Mewtwo concentrated for a moment, then pointed generally north. Eclipse nodded and pointed in the same direction.  
  
It seemed that whenever Ella E was on a road or journey of somekind, she always had the habit of running into people. More often then not, these people would end up joining with her and, so far, falling in love with her. Who was she to question fate? She just hoped she didn't run across any more boys on her journey...she had enough following her as it was.  
This time, after a good two hours of walking (and complaining from various people about sore feet), they ran into their first encounter.  
  
The girl had shoulder-length dark black,almost purplish, hair and was sitting on the side of the road. She looked as if she was in deep thought, and seemed to be meditating. Ella E planned on walking right by, if it wasn't for the insatiable curiousity of Monty.  
  
"What are you doing?" Monty asked, much to the annoyance of the rest of the group. The girl opened her eyes to reveal a lavender light. It faded so quickly that they weren't sure whether or not it was there or not, and soon all they were staring at were dark blue eyes. She stood quietly and stared directly at Monty, as if there was no one else around for miles.  
  
"Did you disturb me?" she said quietly. Monty shrugged, ignoring Colt's warning for him to shut up.  
  
"Yeah. I wanted to know what you were doing."  
  
"I was meditating. I'm trying to come in contact with a psychic Pokémon."  
  
"Oh really? Why?"  
  
"I need one for my journey."  
  
"Your Pokémon journey, right?"  
  
"Yes. I'm trying to establish a link."  
  
"Monty! Stop talking!" Colt urged, shoving Monty harshly. Monty nearly fell over, but managed to straighten himself.  
  
"Well, that was un-necessary." He said, trying to regain some pride.  
  
"You'll have to excuse my friend here," Colt said, rolling his eyes. "He talks way too much." Colt ended his statement by shoving Monty again, this time knocking him over. Monty grumbled and stood back up, helped by Atelli.  
  
The girl instantly stared at Colt and refused to move.  
  
"What happened?" Ella E asked, not sure why the girl had stopped so suddenly.  
  
"I know this..." Atelli said, smirking. She seemed to be in thought for a moment, then looked at her sister. "I'll show you. Say 'Zelgadis'."  
  
"No. I know-"  
  
"Say it."  
  
Ella E shrugged, not knowing the purpose of the activivity, and agreed.  
  
"Zelgadis."  
  
Instantly Atelli stared into space with the same transfixed expression. Ella E waved a hand in front of her eyes.  
  
"Oh great, now she's out too."  
  
"Don't you see?" Monty said, smiling now that he had figured something out. He had gotten over the indignity of being shoved down surprisingly quickly. "She's trying to show that the girl is now throughly, madly, and desperatly in love with our Colt!"  
  
Ella E got a look of disbelief on her face, much like she had when her male companions had admitted they loved her. Colt blushed deeper and shook his head.  
  
"No way, that's not true. It's impossible. Not with me."  
  
"Well, look at her. Tell me that isn't love." Monty gestured towards the girl, who was still standing as still as a statue.  
  
"No way." Colt shook his head, blushing harder. "I'm not interested." He looked pointedly away, staring steadily at a flower on the ground.  
  
Monty shrugged and walked towards the girl. He waved a hand in front of her eyes, and then, realizing this was useless, kicked her in the shins.  
  
That woke her up.  
  
"OW! What was that for?" she said angrily, glaring at Monty. He smiled.  
  
"You were stunned, so I had to snap you out of it."  
  
"That wasn't nice..." she said, rubbing her leg. Meanwhile, Atelli had managed to snap out of her daze and was trying to pay attention.  
  
"What's your name?" Caleb asked, not sure whether or not this could turn out to be amusing or annoying concerning Colt.  
  
"Indigo." she said, brushing back her hair. Ella E thought the name sounded kind of familiar, but was unable to place it.  
  
"You're coming with us, aren't you?"  
  
"...yes, although I don't know why. I have a feeling I should." She looked very solemn. Monty laughed.  
  
"What, are you psychic? I thought you were looking for a psychic Pokémon!"  
  
"Maybe I am!" she said, sticking her tongue out at him. She walked towards the group, shoving Colt roughly out of the way, much to his surprise. "Get out of my way!"  
  
Colt wondered what had gotten into the girl, but only shrugged.  
  
"You're still blushing." Caleb said meanly to him. Colt clenched a fist, and Caleb snickered.  
  
"Let's see..." Ella E checked her map. "I think our next stop is Celadon city...no...wait...what city is this? They should label these better." she said, trying to read the map. "Anyway, at least we're getting near Bill's house..."  
  
  
Chapter 16  
  
"Repetition"  
  
  
"You really think a rifle can hurt me? A M-2? What are you thinkin', lady?" Cyrus laughed scornfully at the woman. Dr.Kagakusha's aim did not waver from Cyrus' forehead.  
  
"I'm warning you, M-2 Specimen C. Back away from Drak and Dr. Dowasure and put your hands up."  
  
"My weapons ain't in my hands, lady." Cyrus laughed, but backed away slowly. "You should know that. 'Sides, you can't hurt me anyway."  
  
"This rifle is armed with a special containment field." Dr. Kagakusha said slowly. Drak's eyes widened as he realized it was the same field he had been hit with what seemed so long ago...the field that had caused him to black out and led to his capture. "It's designed for detaining and disabling members of the M-2 series. Believe me, it works. And all it takes is one shot to disable you."  
  
"Then why don't you shoot?" Cyrus said, crossing his arms. He was taller then the woman, but that came with being from a Mew's genes. Drak could not read any emotion in the purple-blue pupil-less eyes. Dr. Kagakusha kept her position.  
  
"I would think it would be better for most of the members of the society here if you were awake. After all, we haven't got anything to study directly as of recently, considering E is under contruction."  
  
"E?" Cyrus said angrily. "You've already created more? Chah." Cyrus made an angry noise. "I thought you got all you wanted from me."  
  
"You're different now. It would be a beneficial if we could study you awake."  
  
For once, Drak could see Cyrus shuddering, no doubt remembering the painful torture of his formative days. Then he could sense furious anger building within the man and backed away.  
Light began to glow around Cyrus, and he pointed a hand at Dr. Kagakusha.  
  
"Yer never hurting me again." Cyrus hissed. "I've had enough of yer sick experiments."  
  
Dr. Kagakusha said nothing, only firing. Instead of the customary explosion that was associated with firing guns, there was no sound. There was a whooshing sound in it's place as the net flew forward. Showing unnatural speed, Cyrus ducked to one side, lept upwards and focused his energy, aiming at Dr. Kagakusha.  
  
Drak remembered what happened when he had tried to dodge the orange glowing net. The net gravitated towards Cyrus and instantly wrapped itself around him, much to his anger. He swore repeatedly for a few moments.  
  
"Cyrus, don't use-" Drak cried uselessly, but Cyrus was far too furious to listen. His eyes flashed.  
  
The net seemed to flash as well, and Cyrus's face clenched in pain. He fell to his knees, holding back a scream. Drak felt himself concerned, but didn't understand why. Dr. Kagakusha walked close, her tennis shoes scraping the floor. She stood above Cyrus, staring down at him with the predatory look that Drak had seen before. She laughed scornfully at him.  
  
Cyrus breathed hard on the floor, holding back the pain and the urge to let his power free and destroy the entire building.   
  
"Dr. Kagakusha, what are you-" Dr. Dowasure managed to gasp out, still astounded from what was happening and slightly out of breath from the kick to his chest. She knelt in front of Cyrus, so she was roughly at the same level as him. He was focusing on the floor, the anger and pain in his face and voice evident.  
  
"You..." Cyrus managed to hiss, the rest of his words a mumbling of various swearwords. Dr. Kagakusha stared at him, smiling. The look in her eyes frightened Drak. It was the look of something that had captured it's prey, and was now going to toy with it.  
  
Dr. Kagakusha put her slender fingers beneath Cyrus' chin, which resulted in him jerking away with a angry noise. Frowning, she grabbed his face roughly and made him face her. He panted with fury as he was forced to stare at the woman. She smiled again.  
  
"You know, you were the most interesting M-2 clone." she said slowly. "You didn't act like any of the others, and you certainly didn't look like them."  
  
"You #&#$in $&^%$..." Cyrus said with as much malice as possible. She kept staring at him. Drak looked back and forth between the two, Cyrus kneeling on the floor in pain and Dr. Kagakusha sitting, holding his face stubbornly. He sensed there was something about this picture that he should understand, but he was too confused and shocked to know exactly what. He tried to stand, but his leg sent a shock of pain through him, and he fell to the ground. He felt Teishi next to him, inquiring whether he was alright, but he didn't reply.  
  
"There was always that problem, though." She sighed. "The swearing, the smoking, the drinking, the general anti-sociality. It's surprising how little you've changed in a year."  
  
"Since you left me to DIE." Cyrus spat.  
  
"You never understood human logic either." She smirked at him, enjoying the look of helpless fury in his eyes. "Then again, that's not what you were created for. You were created for destruction."  
  
"Shut the #&#$ up, you mother-#&#$in $&^%$." Cyrus swore angrily. She tutted at him, watching him try and pull his face away.  
  
"Such language...where did you learn it? No matter. It doesn't detract from you at all."  
Cyrus stared at her with a mixture of confusion and hatred.  
  
"You were still the best M-2. You matured so quickly, far faster then any other. Better self-esteem then any other. Better appearance then any other."  
  
"What the #&#$ you talkin about, $&^%$?" Cyrus said, confused.  
  
"Nothing that you would understand, Pokémon. Or is it human?" She ignored his furious protests as she brushed some strands of white-purple hair from his face. "It doesn't matter."  
  
"Dr. Kagakusha..." Teishi said softly. Drak was surprised that he spoke without being told. He glanced at Dr. Dowasure and found, as usual, that he was writing this entire thing on his sleeve. He sighed and held his head in his hands, trying to ignore his furiously twitching leg.  
She moved closer to his face, watching his anger and fury at being trapped and not being able to escape. Drak could see the amusement and pleasure in her eyes at watching this creature, who had been so amazingly strong and rebellious be subdued and forced to obey. He could sense with his abilities the sadistic joy she took in watching Cyrus suffer.  
  
"What the #&#$ you doin'?" Cyrus said angrily as she moved closer to him. She stared at him with the same lazy eyes that she had stared at Drak with the first day she had met him. Eyes that said nothing of what she planned, only giving some kind of hint to a sinister undertone.  
He could feel Teishi's hand grip his shoulder, and the smaller boy cowering near him. Not understanding why Teishi, of all people, was afraid, Drak let him stay there, too entranced by what was happening to ask him what he was afraid of.  
  
Dr. Kagakusha moved forward and pressed her mouth to Cyrus'.  
  
Drak could see Cyrus' eyes widen in surprise, then saw him struggling to pull away.  
  
"Dr. Kagakusha!" Dr. Dowasure called, surprised. Drak stared at him incredously, not believing that it took something like this to draw his attention from his constant note-taking.  
  
Behind him, Teishi whimpered.  
  
Dr. Kagakusha released her grip on his face, and Cyrus jerked his head away from her powerfully, breathing hard and furious.  
  
"What...the...#&#$ was that?" He practically shouted at her. Dr. Kagakusha simply smiled and stood.  
  
Drak could sense the fury building within Cyrus.  
  
"Cyrus, don't!" he shouted, again to late. Cyrus's anger took control of him, his eyes flashing powerfully, his body glowing for a moment as his power manifested itself. In response, the net glew with increased power, and Drak could see some kind of energy flowing through Cyrus' body. He fell unconcious.  
  
"Dr. Kagakusha, I demand an explanation!" Dr. Dowasure stood up weakly, managing to balance. The woman stared at him with a look of disinterest. "What is the meaning of this?"  
  
"Why should I tell you? You'll forget it anyway." She said angrily. As Dr. Dowasure fumbled for a reply, she turned to Drak, her eyes filled with sudden fury.  
  
"You! You go back to your cell immediately. Where's Teishi?"  
  
"He's behind me." Drak said, backing away uncertainly. He never trusted Dr. Kagakusha before and he certainly did not now.  
  
"Teishi! Get out here immediatly!" the woman almost shouted, despite Dr. Dowasure's warnings to keep quiet. Teishi meekly stood from behind Drak and walked forward. Drak found himself hating his limp intensely, wishing he could stand. He tried and found his leg a little more responsive. He managed to stand, barely.  
  
Dr. Kagakusha grabbed Teishi's wrist angrily, ignoring his involuntary flinch at the contact.   
  
"I told you to watch Drak to make sure nothing like this happened! What went wrong?"  
  
"Dr. Kagakusha, ma'm, you asked me to bring him to the storage room. I simply followed directions..." Teishi closed his eyes, anticipating a blow of some kind. He was correct. Her hand slapped him harshly across the face, but he did not react. Drak tried to, but his leg refused to respond at the speed he desired. He moved towards the two.  
  
"Are you saying I'm a liar? I would never have done that without telling Dr. Dowasure or notifying the proper authorities! I never would have done something like that during an emergency!"  
  
"..." Teishi slowly turned his large green eyes back to her. "I understand, ma'm. I'm sorry, this is my fault."  
  
"Of course it's your fault! It's always your fault! You're such a stupid little boy!" Drak noticed that Dr. Kagakusha seemed more tense and angry then usual. He guessed mentally that Cyrus was the cause. He moved forward, finally reaching the pair. He grabbed Teishi's other wrist, trying to pull him away. Shocked at this defiance, Dr. Kagakusha was stunned.  
  
"He told me that YOU wanted to see me! He's not lying! You just don't want to take the blame for this!"  
  
"Are you calling me a liar?" She hissed, staring Drak directly in the eyes. Drak refused to back down, something that surprised her. Releasing Teishi, the smaller boy fell into his arms, too weak to stand from exhaustion and pain. Holding him as if he weighed nothing, Drak continued to stare at her.  
  
"I am."  
  
"You would believe this...this BOY over me?" she said, her voice raising in volume.  
  
"Teishi has never lied to me before. You have no such credentials." Drak began to borrow from the calm and power of his Mewtwo. Remembering his mannerism's and behavior, Drak began to imitate them in this stressful situation, not sure of what else to do.  
  
"What is going on here?" a male voice came through the room, breaking the tense power struggle between Drak and Dr. Kagakusha. He saw the familiar form of Prof. Denka running towards them. He ran in-between Dr. Kagakusha and Drak, causing the woman to walk off to one side.  
  
"Prof. Denka..." Dr. Dowasure started, but couldn't form a correct sentence under the stress he was feeling.  
  
"I will not have scientists fighting in this establishment." he said firmly. "We're all more mature then that."  
  
His eyes wandered over to the inert form of Cyrus laying nearby. He seemed surprised for a moment, then hid it quickly.  
  
"I'll take charge of this. Dr. Dowasure, take M-2 Specimen C and take him to one of the special containment cells. Fit him with the P.P.E.D.E." Dr. Dowasure nodded and grabbed both of Cyrus' arms, managing to drag him upwards. He then staggered under the larger man's weight.  
  
"Dr. Kagakusha, help him." Prof. Denka said impatiently. Dr. Kagakusha took Cyrus' other arm, and the two scientists walked off.  
  
"P.P.E.D.E?" Drak asked. He had a feeling that instead of the harsh orders that Prof. Denka spoke to the other two scientists, he would receive answers to his questions. The Professor smiled at him, and he felt relief.  
  
"Now that those two immature children are gone..." he then remembered about Drak. "What did you say?"  
  
"What's a P.P.E.D.E?" Drak asked. Prof. Denka watched the two scientists walk away.  
  
"P.P.E.D.E." Prof. Denka said quietly. "One of my better accomplishments, isn't it? Stands for "Psychic Pulse Electric Discharge Emitter. If C tries to use his psychic powers, he'll get a very, very nasty shock. Very useful for controlling unruly psychics, especially M-2's."  
  
"Like Teishi's?"  
  
"Well, for one thing, Teishi's isn't for Psychic. It's only an Electric one for standard use. Electro-Magnetic Pulse Emitter...E.M.P.E. Anyway, it's high time we got you two back to your quarters. The higher management will be furious that we almost let harm come to you."  
  
"Who is the higher management?"  
  
"I don't think Dr. Dowasure told you about the triggers, did he?"  
  
"He mentioned something about certain keywords can trigger the fainting spells, I think." Drak said, trying to remember.  
  
"That's one of them. We don't want any harm coming to you, so I'm afraid it will have to remain a mystery. Hello..." Prof. Denka noticed Teishi seemingly for the first time. "Hmm...passed out, didn't you? Poor child. You can take care of him for a while, right Drak? I'm very busy. Work and such, you know."  
  
"I suppose..." Drak was actually very happy to have this chance. He had always felt like he just kept taking and taking from Teishi without ever giving back. Now he had his chance to repay Teishi for all the kind things he had done for him.  
  
"I'll lead you back to your chambers. Try not to take any more offers to go places for a while, okay?"  
  
"Okay..." Drak smiled and followed the kind man. He knew that he had a chance for freedom that he had lost by causing Cyrus to lose precious time, but he didn't feel any guilt or regret for some reason. He felt that there were still things that he needed to do here...he couldn't just leave. So here he was, heading for his cell again, not sure of what to expect. Unable to hold Teishi in the way he was, he picked him up in his arms. The boy was amazingly light, although this did not surprise him, and he followed the Professor through the hallways. 


	8. Violation

Chapter 17  
  
"Companions"  
  
  
Ella E wasn't sure what motivated Indigo to act the way that she did. Although the first time Indigo had seen Colt, she had spaced out, but now she acted as if she hated him. Ella E didn't understand why she would act so hostile to someone that she thought she cared about. Giving it up as one of the mysteries of human nature she would never understand, she didn't ask any questions.   
  
However, she was rather enjoying the journey. During her travels with the four boys, she had felt important and free. She had missed that feeling when she had returned home, and now she was feeling light and happy. She enjoyed the ability to go where she pleased, to do what she wanted, and she loved the feeling of her friends always behind her, watching her. She enjoyed traveling in groups, and this brought her back many pleasant memories. Painful ones came as well, in the form of brief recollections of the massacre at Vermillion, but she tried to push these away. She just wanted to enjoy this bright day, on the road, with her companions alongside her. She was in too much of a good mood to let the fact that Kotake, sister of the person who had tried to kill her repeatedly, was here. She ignored the fact that her own sister, someone she normally could not stand, was here as well. She was letting herself go to the wonderful sense of warmth and freedom, and nothing could make her sad.  
  
Colt also seemed to enjoy the day as much as Ella E, although his joy was tempered by confusion over Indigo's behavior. His blush was back in full force, especially around the strange, dark-haired girl. She was constantly pushing him, ignoring him, or belittling him, and to tell the truth, he was beginning to tire of it.  
  
Monty refused to believe that Indigo was not in love with Colt and kept to his belief that she was obsessed over him. He also managed to ignore the completly obvious signs of dislike that came over Indigo around Colt. He kept saying that she loved Colt, and could not be persuaded otherwise. Of course, Ella E knew he would do something like this because of his stubborn and willful nature, so she didn't try to argue. Colt was another story. Colt was constantly arguing with Monty now, more so then he had ever before, encouraged by the fact that Drak was not there to stop him. Usually it was Drak who broke up the inter-group squabbles, but since he was not present, the fighting usually grew to a fever pitch, especially between Colt and Caleb. The two never stopped making jabs and insults towards the other, and once Colt threatened Caleb with bodily harm. It was the combined force of Ella E, Kotake, and Monty that kept Colt from doing something he would have regretted.   
  
Kotake, on the whole, remained very quiet and withdrawn. She was aware of the fact she was not welcome, and did not try to bring attention to herself. She often was seen with a thoughtful expression, although the others either didn't bother or didn't care enough to ask what she was thinking of. Besides, most of them could guess. It was, no doubt, about her sister. Colt kept trying to convince her that Kame was insane, but Kotake was adament about the fact her sister was not a psychotic killer. Like Monty, she could not be persuaded otherwise. She hung near the back of the group, never speaking or looking at anyone.  
  
The Mewtwo walked off to one side, refusing any efforts to help him when his leg gave out. Everyone could tell by the pain on the Mewtwo's face that he was fighting inwardly over the decision of returning to his previous torturous "home". His eyes glew with a bright blue light occasionally, mouthing silent words, but he never got a response. Atelli could tell that this was very hurtful for the Pokémon, but she knew better then to approach the sorrowful creature. The only one that seemed to be able to approach it was Eclipse, who kept a watchful eye on her son, constantly speaking to him and singing.   
  
Atelli knew that her sister didn't want her here, but she didn't care. She was also glad to be out on the road. She hadn't been traveling for a long time, and this was a pleasant reminder of the freedom that came along with it. She talked brightly with everyone, even Kotake, although most of the time was she was politely rebuffed. She was determined to get Kotake to cheer up. To tell the truth, she did not see what was so dangerous about the girl that frightened her sister so, and she wanted to make friends with her. She seemed so sad and forlorn. Although Atelli wouldn't mind if her own sister were gone for good, she knew that Kotake probably did not feel the same way. Kotake kept to herself still, but Atelli was determined to make her less depressed. She also spent a lot of time with Monty, whom she found was especially receptive to her odd jokes and occasional fits of hyperness. Also, he was around her age, so this made her feel as if she fit in more. She didn't get why Indigo was acting oddly, and she shrugged it off.  
  
Indigo didn't know why she was compelled to travel along with this odd bunch of people. She just knew that this was what she had to do. She wondered why no one recognized her. She had thought she was rather famous, but maybe she was mistaken. She reviewed in her mind various reasons she could be compelled to travel with this ragtag bunch. She knew that she had powerful psychic powers...that came from being a trainer underneath Anubis, the psychic gym leader, for so long. Was the Mewtwo commanding her to come? She knew that her psychic powers left her open to more powerful psychics, like the Mewtwo. If the Mewtwo attacked her, then she would be killed, no doubt about it. Was that why?  
  
She looked at the Mewtwo, studying it. No...it seemed distracted. It didn't even seem to be looking at her. It most likely wasn't that Pokémon. She turned to the group. She had never met any of these people before, although the name Ella E sounded familiar, and she couldn't understand why they would travel together. It seemed to her that the group was made of highly conflicting personalities, especially between Ella E and her sister, Atelli. She reviewed them each in the simplest terms possible. The short young boy, Caleb, seemed to hate the taller, blushing one, Colt. She didn't understand what compelled the two to travel in the same group. Also, Atelli, the hyper older girl, seemed to hang around the other older boy, Monty. The girl hanging in the back, Kotake, seemed very isolated. The Mewtwo kept to itself. All in all, it seemed that nothing more then pure force could have bound this group together. She didn't know where they were traveling or why, and this bothered her. Of course, she could have pierced their minds with ESP and found out, but she knew that she would be discovered quickly. The Mewtwo would do no such thing, and there was only one other person with psychic powers.  
  
She kept thinking. Perhaps she was with them because they would help her find her sister. She sighed. She hadn't seen her sister for quite some time, and her mother was concerned about her. That's why she had really left her home, to find her errant sister and drag her back. But she had decided that that information was to remain confidential, and refused to tell anyone. She decided that must have been it.  
  
She looked at Colt and felt a rising flood of emotions, unusual for psychics of her caliber. She didn't understand why she felt such a aversion and yet, an attraction towards him. She shrugged away the feelings, refusing to bend underneath them. She had learned under Anubis that feelings are the key to weakness, and she was not weak. She never would be, if she kept control over herself.  
  
They reached the end of the bridge they were crossing and the group sat, not sure of where to go next.  
  
"Mewtwo...any clues?"  
  
The Mewtwo's eyes glowed gently, a sign of him opening a weak link with everyone.  
  
"We are close...very close. I'm not sure which direction to go, however. I sense it to be somewhere..." the Mewtwo waved his paw over the large body of water over to the southeast of them. "over there, but I must be mistaken. I do not remember water anywhere near the cave nor the lab."  
  
"Are you sure?" Monty asked, leaning back. He stared at the sky.  
  
"We could go look, if that's what you would like." the Mewtwo said carefully. Indigo brushed her hair from her shoulders and stared piercingly at the powerful Pokémon.  
  
"What are we looking for, anyway?" she asked suspiciously. The Mewtwo, sensing hostility, returned her gaze with a touch of anger.  
  
"Nothing that would concern you. You're coming along only because I sense you may be important, but that does not mean we must tell you why."  
  
"Come on, Mewtwo, how do you expect her to come with us if she doesn't have any clue why?" Atelli laughed. She turned to the dark-haired girl. "Really, we're looking for a boy named Drak. He was kidnapped a while ago and we think we know where he is."  
  
"Where is that?" Indigo said, with even more suspicion. Atelli looked confused at the tone in her voice.  
  
"A research lab...Genetic Poké-whatever thingy research place or something."   
  
"You forgot the name already?" Monty asked incredously. Atelli shrugged.  
  
"I haven't heard about it that much, okay?"  
  
"PGRI." The Mewtwo said with unconcealed hatred. "The Pokémon Genetic Research Institute."  
  
Indigo's eyes flashed, but she didn't say anything.  
  
"Anyone here ever been to the Unknown Dungeon?" Ella E said, trying to change the subject. Everyone looked at her. The Mewtwo refused to respond to the question in any way. Atelli was the only one who seemed to nod.  
  
"I think I went there once...I can't remember where it was though..." she scratched her head. Ella E sighed.  
  
"Well, there goes that lead."   
  
Caleb picked a blade of grass from the ground.  
  
"Think we'll met anyone else along the way?" he asked abruptly. Everyone turned their gaze to him.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ella E looked at him.  
  
"Well...I'm just curious. See, now we have Atelli, Kotake, and Indigo with us. I'm just wondering whether anyone else will come join us."  
  
"What, you mean like Ashstar or something?" Colt laughed. "I don't think so. I don't think she'd get near Ella E after what happened."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ella E asked Colt angrily. Colt, sensing he had touched upon a delicate subject, held out his hands in what he hoped was a disarming manner.  
  
"Nothing, nothing. I just don't think she'd be interested with traveling with us."  
  
"Who is...Ashstar?" Indigo asked, staring at Ella E. Ella E shrugged, opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Kotake, who, for once, had decided to step into the conversation.  
  
"Ashstar is this Pokémon Trainer with a well-deserved bad reputation. She killed her own Pokémon by abuse and now wanders about, causing trouble-"  
  
Caleb broke in.  
  
"Hold on!" He noticed Kotake's fierce stare being turned to him. It surprised him, considering that Kotake had been so quiet and solemn while traveling with them. "I think you're judging her a little hastily! I'm sure she didn't mean to. I think it was an accident. And I think she's sorry."  
  
"How would YOU know?" Kotake said angrily. Caleb kept his gaze locked with hers.  
  
"I saw it in her eyes. She doesn't want to hurt anything anymore. She took my Charmander from me when I was being too harsh on it and taught me to take better care of it. Ella E, didn't she stop you from abusing Charles?"  
  
Ella E blushed at the unpleasant memory. She couldn't believe how cruel she had been to her Bulbasaur so long ago. "Yes...I suppose."  
  
"I'm just saying that even if she does show up, we shouldn't trust her. She's dangerous..." Kotake said quietly. Indigo wasn't sure who to believe, but decided when she saw Ashstar, she would decide.   
  
Sensing how tense everyone was feeling, Monty sat up and looked at the Mewtwo. "So you say you think it's across the water?"  
  
"I don't believe it's there, but that's the direction I feel." the Mewtwo said carefully.   
  
Monty nodded and looked at everyone else, who had turned their attention from eachother to him. "So...anybody here have a Pokémon that can Surf or Fly?"  
  
  
Chapter 18  
  
"Cord"  
  
  
Drak sat in his cell, not sure of what to do. He had sensed, as he had resisted Cyrus' attempts to free him, that there was something that he had to do at this place, although he did not know what it was. The feeling which had at first generated the suspicion of Cyrus, then his reluctance to trust the man, had now led him to a dead end. He wished that his Mewtwo was here to help him figure this out. He missed it's presence in his mind. Although he could sense Barrier-D and Surepa on the outskirts of his mental hearing, he did not warrant them important enough to listen to. Besides, their psychic voice was so weak, it took special effort to hear them, especially at a distance. He wished he could just converse normally, like he had with his Mewtwo. He was not too loud with his Mewtwo...and his Mewtwo had figured things out for him. He wished they had never been separated. And after all he had been through, he still did not understand why.  
  
An overwhelming sense of loneliness swept over Drak as he stared at Teishi, who was sleeping on the bed-like shelf that made the only ornament in his room other then the stainless metal walls. He had wrapped Teishi in as many blankets as he could find and the younger boy was now sleeping peacefully. Watching him sleep, his breath coming in and out regularly, made Drak wonder why he was here. He was lonely. He wished for someone like Mewtwo or Prof. Denka to come and speak to him, someone to whom he could talk about how he felt and how unhappy he was. But he knew that in this place, wherever he was, that the only things that were important were the results. He tried to recall the name of the place and found in response a stabbing pain between his eyes. Giving it up, he sighed and leaned against the wall.  
  
The loneliness swept over him again and he felt he had to speak to someone. He tried to think of someone that he could establish a link with that could he could speak with like the Mewtwo.  
  
Like the Mewtwo...  
  
His loneliness was joined with a curiousity as to what had happened to Cyrus. Wondering whether the P.P.E.D.E prevented the M-2 from speaking to him, Drak opened the mental link.   
  
He waited in the dreamspace between concious thought and subconcious realm, not sure of what to do. He was used to his Mewtwo approaching him, but he realized that Cyrus would, most likely, not expect him to try to contact him. He wondered briefly whether Cyrus was as lonely as he was and wondered where the thought had came from. He shook his head in his dreamspace, laughing at himself. Cyrus was not human...he was a cross-breed...a mutant. A twisted mix of human and Pokémon. He tried to convince himself of this, but knew that just because Cyrus was half-Pokémon, that did not remove his feelings or rational thought. Cyrus had feelings like he did, and that was why he wondered. Shrugging, he decided he would deal with the problem of how to approach Cyrus later. He reached out farther with his mind, not sure of what he was looking for exactly. The black area around him expanded and he sensed a vague light coming from his left. It was the same, twisted mixture of purple and blue that came from the psychic power of Cyrus. He walked in that direction, noticing the area around him getting lighter. Surprised at the lack of a black background, he proceeded more cautiously.  
  
He soon approached Cyrus, who was sitting on what looked like one staircase in a vast expanse of white. He had his cigarette here, although he was not using it at the moment. He had his head buried in his arms, his arms on his knees. He was without his trenchcoat, dressed only in dirty, ripped jeans and a black shirt, one sleeve ripped off. Drak was struck by how human the creature looked at the moment, and how lonely.  
  
"Cyrus?"  
  
"#$%&!" Cyrus immediately lept upwards, looking around frantically. Finally seeing only the startled boy in front of him, he pressed a hand to his chest in an effort to soothe his rapid breathing.  
  
"#$%& kid, nearly gave me a #$%&in' heart attack. #$%&in' Christ..." Cyrus took a deep breath from his cigarette and fell back on the stairs, his legs giving out beneath him suddenly. Drak was interested to see that Cyrus was surprised, not expecting such a weak emotion from someone who had seemed and acted so strong. He waited until Cyrus had calmed down enough to speak.  
  
"So, what the %&$@ you doin' here, kid? Ain't you got better things to do?"  
  
"...I..." Drak realized that telling Cyrus he was lonely could only result in a bad response, so tried to think of something else. "I just wanted to check on you, that's all."  
  
"Check me? What the %&$@ for?" Cyrus looked at him with those frightening eyes of his, the eyes that were strange and frightening and told no emotion. Drak shrugged, trying to regain some confidence. They were connected in mind, not body. There was no harm that could befall him here at Cyrus' hands.  
  
"Do you have the emitter on you?" Drak said, not sure of what else he could bring up. Cyrus stared at him for a moment, then broke off. He breathed a cloud of smoke into the air.  
  
"Not here," Cyrus indicated where they were with a wave of his hand, "but I got it. I'll show you."  
  
Drak was surprised at how fast Cyrus had grasped the reality of the area between minds. Instantly, on Cyrus bare foot, an anklet appeared. Other then a bright blue light, it was strikingly similiar to Teishi's.  
  
"That's it?" he asked, half-surprised and half-unbelieving. Cyrus cursed for a moment.  
  
"Yeah, that's the little #$%&er from %&$@. &*%$ thing won't let me do nothin'."  
  
"Wait...why isn't it picking up this conversation then? Isn't it psychic activity?"  
  
Cyrus shrugged. "I guess since you contacted me, it don't count. I don't know how this &*%$ thing works."  
  
Drak looked around at the environment that Cyrus had created. He was surrounded by white, all around him, so bright it hurt his eyes. The only thing that deviated from the harsh glare were him, Cyrus, and the staircase. Even the staircase itself was white and it was only as high as Cyrus was tall. It seemed to be floating in mid-air, not connecting floors. It was just a staircase with, what seemed to Drak, no function. Drak also noticed that he was not truly standing, but floating. He was used to this, however, and regarded it as un-important.  
  
"Why this?"  
  
"What?" Cyrus looked at him. He had placed a hand on his forehead, as if his head hurt, and the other held the cigarette to his lips. He let it out the smoke slowly, then let his hand fall, the cigarette grasped almost carelessly between his fingers.  
  
"This. The white, the stairs. Why?"  
  
Cyrus shrugged, looking even more irritable. He moved his hand further up into his hair, as if in pain, rubbing his forehead with obvious annoyance.  
  
"I don't know, kid. Couldn't think of much else, okay? Give me a #$%&in' break."  
  
Drak tried to connect this together. He and his Mewtwo had always preferred the cover of darkness, but here it was stark. Everything was brightly lit, and it provided a sharp contrast to Cyrus and his black shirt. Drak looked at Cyrus' ankle and found the emitter missing. Cyrus noticed this, but did not comment. Drak tried to think of why Cyrus looked so tired.  
  
"Did you try anything? In your cell, I mean."  
  
Cyrus didn't even bother looking at him again, just inhaling on his cigarette again and sighing the smoke out between his teeth.  
  
"%&$@ yeah, I tried some %&$#. Didn't do a &*%$ thin', tho'. All I got was one huge mother&*%$er of a headache." he sighed again. Drak looked at him carefully for a few moments.  
  
"You seem different."  
  
"God, kid, what's your &*%$in' problem?" Cyrus said angrily, glaring at him. "You just here to annoy the %&$@ out of me? Different my-"  
  
Drak cut him off.  
  
"No, I'm just curious. Before you were angry and didn't want to talk to anyone. You didn't tell me anything. Now you seem sad."  
  
"&*%$ you." Cyrus spat at him. Drak ignored him.  
  
"Really, I'm serious. You weren't this depressed before. You didn't sigh. Or smoke as much."  
  
Cyrus turned his attention towards him fully. "Shut the &*%$ up. I don't &*%$in' want to hear it."  
  
"Was it Dr. Kagakusha?"  
  
Cyrus narrowed his eyes with intense hatred. Drak was surprised.  
  
"&*%$. That's the main part of it. Not all of it. I don't want to be where I was &*%$in' tortured for the first two years of my life, kid."  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
"Three." Cyrus inhaled on his cigarette, but his fingers were trembling. Drak noticed this, but did not know what to make of it. Drak tried to register this. Cyrus looked somewhere in his early twenties. But he was only three. This came as a surprise to him and, regardless of this new information, Drak could not help but see Cyrus as being his predecessor in some way.  
  
Cyrus seemed to notice the confusion in his eyes. "Since I was the first, they &*%$ed around with the code a bit. I aged fast. Then I just stopped. Never grew since."  
  
"Stopped?"  
  
"Stopped agin'. Or at least, in the physical sense. That was six months after I was created. I was this. Still am."  
  
"Did you ever cut your hair?"  
  
Cyrus looked at him, confused at the question. He sighed and looked off to one side.  
  
"Sure, kid. When I got out, I got it cut."  
  
"It's a...unique style." Drak said carefully. The odd hair of Cyrus gave him the look that he was constantly leaning to his right.  
  
"&*%$, you know as well as I do it's &*%$in' weird. I did it on purpose. Who cares. They didn't want me back anyway. They had all their fun."  
  
"How long were you free?"  
  
"A year. Until now."  
  
"Did Dr. Kagakusha...?" Drak said, wondering whether he should approach this subject or not. Cyrus sighed deeply again, but his eyes were focused with hate.  
  
"Not like that, kid. Not like that. She stared at me a lot, sure. Thought it was 'cause she hated me. She acted like it, y'know? She &*%$in' messed with my head. I didn't &*%$in' know what she wanted. Then I was thrown out. So I never knew. 'Til now. &*%$in'-" Cyrus was about to go into a cursing rant when Drak again interrupted him.  
  
"She never..."  
  
"Naw, kid." Cyrus shook his head slowly. "I never would've let her if she tried. She just got me caught, that's all. When I couldn't fight back." Drak could see that Cyrus was tensing his muscles, as if under a lot of strain. He knew it was because of his frustration at being weak. He could tell that from Cyrus the moment he saw him. Cyrus didn't want to be weak. He found himself staring at Cyrus' bony hands. Cyrus was actually very thin and looked frail. It was his psychic ability that made him seem so skilled and powerful. Drak could relate. He relied on his Mewtwo for power when he was upset or in trouble.   
  
Cyrus was about to start swearing again when Drak interrupted him.  
  
"Can you see if anyone is in your room?"  
  
Cyrus blinked at him and took another drag on his cigarette.  
  
"Can't open my eyes now. I know that 'cause I did this with you before. You know it too, right? Can't see a &*%$in' thin'. Neither can you, right?" Drak nodded. "But since I got a lot of power, I could prolly sense if some other mind would enter the room. Maybe. 'M not sure."  
  
"Just curious." Drak said, although he was covering for himself. He felt as if something bad was going to happen, although the feeling was not as strong as it had been before at Ella E's house. He had a feeling that it was going to happen to Cyrus, and that made him feel as though he should stay in case he needed help.   
  
He wondered briefly about Teishi's safety. He was fairly sure that no one would attempt to enter the cell while he sat on the edge of the "bed", his eyes glowing with light and his mouth moving with silent words. Dismissing that worry, he wondered idly as to what Cyrus was doing.  
  
"What's your room look like? Is it like mine?" Drak asked. Cyrus shrugged.  
  
"'S pretty nice. Got a nice bed, a sink. Like a hotel room, kind of."  
  
"Lucky. I got a cell. It has a shelf that I call a 'bed'." Drak smiled and tried to laugh. He could not lighten Cyrus' mood that easily, however, and all he recieved was a stare.  
  
"Got that last time I was here."  
  
"You stayed in one of those cells?"  
  
"Sure, kid. I wasn't stuck in one of them &*%$in' tubes. They had a little guilt over makin' someone who looked as human as me do somethin' like that."  
  
Drak was surprised the scientists here felt anything.  
  
"Do you know all of them? The scientists, I mean."  
  
"Yeah, I know a bunch. The Prof, the Doc, the lady..."  
  
Drak interpreted this as Prof. Denka, Dr. Dowasure, and Dr. Kagakusha.  
  
Cyrus continued. "I saw the Doc the most, tho'. He talked a lot. Also forgot a lot. &*%$in' bugged the %&$@ out of me. The lady stayed away most of the time, and the Prof would come by occasionally and talk about somethin' I didn't really get. Didn't like any of them."  
  
Drak sat down on the stairs next to Cyrus, noticing his surprised reaction. "I don't blame you. I don't like them myself. Especially Dowasure. He forgets so much."  
  
"%&$@ yeah." Cyrus was glad to find someone who agreed with him. Drak tried to avoid the topic of Prof. Denka, not sure if he could pretend to hate the kind man. Drak was hoping that this topic would not come up when Cyrus seemed to twitch a little.  
  
Cyrus suddenly jerked where he was sitting, causing Drak to jump back a little.  
  
"Cyrus? Cyrus, what's wrong?"  
  
"There's someone...in my room..." he said haltingly, as though trying to fight something off. "I...I don't know who it is...they...I can't move! They &*%$in' paralyzed my body! &*%$!" Cyrus was almost shouting at this point. Drak took a deep breath and decided to take a chance. He placed a hand on Cyrus' shoulder.  
  
"Slow down, slow down. What happened? You can't see who they are?"  
  
Cyrus looked at him with a mixture of fear and confusion. He did not move the hand away, although he did not seem to want it there either. Drak had hoped that Cyrus would not over-react. He had a calming affect on people. He knew that from traveling with Ella E. He had hoped it would work at this moment, and it luckily had.   
  
"I...I..." Cyrus seemed to be getting very nervous, something very unusual for him. "I can't see who it is...I...I think they paralyzed my body somehow...I...can't move...I can't &*%$in' move a &*%$in' inch..."  
  
"Can you break off the link to open your eyes?" Drak felt some inner feeling telling him that he should not let that happen, but he ignored it. Cyrus held his hands to his head, the cigarette forgotten at the moment.  
  
"I...I can't move, but I can feel...I feel...someone has my hand...they got somethin'...I...I can't tell what it is..." Cyrus closed his eyes, in an effort to find out more information. Drak tightened his grip on Cyrus' shoulder.  
  
"Cyrus, you need to break off this link and see who it is. You have to."  
  
"I don't know if I can!" Cyrus said, his voice taking on a sudden frightened pitch which was quickly masked. "I...I can't snap out of it cause I can't move. It's like...It's like 'M completly out of my body. I...I can't do ANYthin'. Wait...wait, they're doin' somethin'...&*%$...I...I can feel somethin' cold. Cold and hard...feels like metal...'s on the back of my hand..." Cyrus seemed deep in thought. Drak waited patiently. He could have broken the link himself, but he sensed that would not have helped Cyrus. If his body was truly paralyzed, it would not let him defend himself. It would only leave him open to what was happening alone. Without someone to try and help.  
  
"Metal?"  
  
"&*%$!" Cyrus said angrily. "&*%$, I &*%$in' know what it is. 'S the bedpost. 'S metal...what are they doin'? Wait...I feel somethin' else...it feels like...like..."  
  
"Like what?" Drak said, feeling tense in spite of himself. Cyrus' hands suddenly dropped from his face onto his knees, the cigarette falling from his grasp and falling into what seemed the infinite whiteness. His eyes widened and Drak could see traces of fear.  
  
"I know what it is." he said softly. His voice grew angrier. "I &*%$in' know what the &*%$ it is...it's...'s cord. You know, the strong kind. Like...telephone wire. 'S that stuff. 'S &*%$in' cold. They...they tied my...my hands to the..." Cyrus was trying to think of what could be happening to him while he was paralyzed.  
  
"Is there a light in the room?" Drak said, wishing he could see more clearly what was happening. "Is there any clue who could be doing this?"  
  
"Ain't any lights 'cept one...the ceilin' light...I don't think it's on. I can't see anythin'...'s very dark...if it was on, maybe that would &*%$in' help. &*%$...&*%$! What the &*%$ are they doin'!"  
  
Drak did not know, but he felt as if he should. Was this what he had thought would happen? "They tied your hands?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I can feel it. Wire...and metal. &*%$..." Cyrus still stared straight-ahead, as if he was not focusing on anything. Not Drak, not himself, not anything. He had a indecipherable look on his face. Drak watched him carefully.  
  
"What the &*%$..." Cyrus said, his face changing into a look of confusion. "What are they doin'..." Drak watched as the Cyrus in front of him jerked his hands in front of him, as if surprised that they could move. He stared at them, and then clenched them. He looked at himself, staring at his clothes. He touched them, as if making sure they still existed.  
  
"What's going on?" Drak asked urgently.  
  
"Oh &*%$...Oh &*%$..." Cyrus spoke with more emotion the second time he spoke the obcenity.  
  
"Cyrus, what's happening? Cyrus?" Drak noticed with alarm that Cyrus seemed to be fading off into yet another world, one that Drak could not reach. He shook him roughly, knowing that Cyrus did not like being touched, but he felt that he had to stop him before he dissapeared entirely. Cyrus turned to face him and Drak expected some kind of anger, but only saw helplessness. "Cyrus! What's happening! Tell me!"  
  
"&*%$...&*%$ kid...you...you wouldn't...I can't believe that...this can't be...why can't I move! Why can't I &*%$in MOVE!?" Cyrus shouted angrily, jerking his hands forward. Drak knew that he was trying to move his physical hands, but knew that was beyond his capability, paralyzed as he was.   
  
"Cyrus! Please! What's going on?"  
  
"Kid...oh god, kid..." Cyrus' face, livid with anger, suddenly seemed to melt into terror. It was so sudden it startled Drak. He recoiled back. He didn't understand what happened to make Cyrus, someone who was so strong and powerful, collapse into this. He could not think of anything that could happen that could bring someone down so fast.   
  
Cyrus curled into a ball. He hugged his knees close to himself, his eyes staring forward lifelessly.  
  
"Cyrus...?" Drak leaned forward. Cyrus looked at him and Drak could see something glimmering in his eyes. To his utter surprise, a tear fell from the pupil-less eye, sliding down his face to shatter on the steps. Drak noticed that the tear broke much like it was made of crystal or some other kind of hard substance.  
  
"Oh god, kid...make it stop...make it stop...please..." Cyrus utterly lost control of his emotions. Tears began falling freely, breaking on the steps with small noises of glass shattering. Drak stared, surprised and confused at what could cause such a reaction. Drak could not think of anything he could do.  
  
What would anyone else do if faced with a crying person? His mind thought quickly. He found his instincts had an answer. He questioned neither the question nor it's response, only deciding that comforting the strange creature was his first imperative.  
  
"Cyrus...tell me..."  
  
"Kid...kid...make 'em stop...I'll do anythin'...just make 'em leave me alone...oh...oh god, kid...why...why...why to me...why to me...make 'em stop...please...please kid..." Cyrus' words dissolved into meaningless pleas for mercy to something that could not hear him. Drak gathered Cyrus in his arms, speaking softly. He felt as if he was comforting a small child. In a way, he was. Cyrus did not recoil against being held, as Drak had expected. Instead, he didn't resist at all. Cyrus sobbed, unable to form any more words.  
  
"Shhh...shh...don't worry...don't worry, everything will be okay...okay, Cyrus? Everything will be fine. Just relax and don't worry about anything. Try to clear your mind...try not to think about it. I'm still here...you have a friend...okay? I'm here, you're not alone."  
  
Cyrus continued to weep, his tears breaking on the steps, while Drak wondered what on earth could have done this. 


	9. Comfort

Chapter 19  
  
"Exploration"  
  
  
Soon it was revealed that the only one with a Pokémon both large enough and with the ability to swim across the body of water was Atelli, who had Dewy, the Dewgong. This proved to be a problem as Dewy could only carry one person at a time. Dewy was well-trained and strong, but every Pokémon has it's limits. This led to some disagreements.  
  
"How will we all get across?" Monty stared across the unbroken body of water. Indigo was getting irritable.  
  
"Why should we go anyway? Mewtwo says there's nothing there."  
  
"I did not say that." the Mewtwo's eyes glowed softly. "I simply stated that I felt something was over there, and that I did not think it feasible that it was."  
  
"Well, I don't care if it's there or not." Colt said, getting just as frustrated as everyone else. The day was hot, long, and seemingly without direction. This was fraying everyone's nerves. "Let's just go and look, okay? It won't hurt."  
  
"Atelli, do you remember whether something was over there?" Ella E asked her sister with distaste. Atelli returned it in kind.  
  
"I don't remember much about the Unknown Dungeon. I just went there once for a short time."  
  
"Hmmm..." Caleb thought hard to himself, trying to figure out a solution.  
  
"I think there was water around it, from what I learned as a Gym Leader." Kotake said softly. No one payed any attention to her, although she didn't seem to see this as peculiar. "Great rivers flowing underneath the caverns..."  
  
"I know!" Caleb said, brightening. "We can take turns riding Dewy, can't we?"  
The others stared at him, then blinked as they realized the obvious answer to their problem. Atelli shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. Who's going first? I'm last so I can return with Dewy."  
  
"I'll go first." Caleb looked at the Dewgong hesitantly. "I'm small, so it shouldn't take that long." He said the words with restrained distaste, but he knew it was true. He heard Colt snickering behind him and he fumed.  
  
"Dewy!" Atelli called. The Dewgong flipped from the water where she had been swimming and splashed some water, signifying that she had heard. "Dewy, can you carry Caleb across the water?"  
  
Dewy looked up at Atelli and the others.  
  
"Deeeewgong!" She said, in a voice that sounded like water running over bells. It was beautiful and delicate. Indigo looked surprised.  
  
"I thought Dewgong's had hoarse, honking, screechy voices." She stared at the beautiful shimmering Dewgong. Dewy smiled broadly, as did her trainer.  
  
"Dewy has been very well trained! Only badly trained Dewgongs have horrible voices. They also look fat. But not Dewy!" Atelli giggled. Dewy laughed with her. Ella E rolled her eyes.  
  
"Whatever. Caleb, get on." She commanded.  
  
"Will Dewy drop me?" Caleb hesitated next to the Dewgong. Atelli blinked.  
  
"No, of course not. She knows what to do. Don't worry about it."  
  
"I really can't swim, so..." Caleb slid onto the Dewgong's back. Atelli laughed.  
  
"Hang on tight then! Dewy, GO!"  
  
The Dewgong lept into the air, then sliced through the water, leaving behind a wake of foam and the faint sound of Caleb's cry of surprise.  
  
"He won't really fall off, will he?" Ella E asked. Her sister smiled.  
  
"No, Dewy won't let him. She would catch him if he did, anyway. Look, she's coming back already!"  
  
Dewy lept into the air and splashed down in front of her trainer, smiling. Caleb was not with her.  
  
"Where's Caleb?" Ella E asked immediately before Atelli could speak. Dewy looked at her, confused.  
  
"Deeew gong, dew gong gong dew, dew dew gong dew." she said in her pretty voice. Atelli turned to her group and smiled.  
  
"She says that there is an island across the water, and Caleb is there right now! She says there might have been a cave there, but she wasn't sure. Who's next?"  
  
"I'll go." Monty stepped forward. "I better make sure Caleb isn't doing something stupid."  
He got on Dewy's back and soon was out of sight. This time, however, it took a little longer.  
  
"Kotake, you want to go next?" Atelli asked the quiet girl. She looked away.  
  
"I guess. Okay."  
  
Dewy returned, still beaming, not panting or out of breath in the least.  
  
"Is Monty safe?" Ella E asked again. The Dewgong nodded, and Kotake got on. Atelli watched the sad girl go off, wondering to herself why she always seemed so withdrawn.  
  
"Why don't you go next, Ella E?" Atelli asked her sister. Ella E looked at her with suspicion.  
  
"I don't know. Why do you want me to go NOW?"  
  
"I was just asking." Atelli looked almost offended.  
  
"Are you sure you didn't tell Dewy to drop me once she reached a certain point?"  
  
"Of course not! You're just being paranoid!" Atelli laughed, but Ella E was not set at ease.   
Dewy returned and nodded before Ella E could even ask.  
  
"I'm watching you." Ella E said as Dewy whisked her off. Her sister, while she was not looking, stuck her tongue out at her.  
  
"Who's next?" She asked the remaining three.  
  
"I shall teleport across." the Mewtwo said. The remaining people stared at it in surprise. Atelli held a hand to her head, groaning.  
  
"You could do that this whole time? Why didn't you tell us!?"  
  
"I can only teleport myself, and I am doing this at great risk to my person." The Mewtwo walked to the water's edge. "Tell my mother to watch the water closely, I may end up under it by accident." The Mewtwo's eyes flashed, and he dissapeared. Instantly, so did Eclipse. She fluttered off with incredible speed.  
  
Colt interrupted Atelli's rant about the stupid Mewtwo. "I'll go, I guess."  
  
"I want to go! I don't want to be left here alone!" Indigo said with sudden energy. Colt shrugged.   
  
"Fine, go ahead. Sheesh."  
  
The dark-purple haired girl moved forward confidently and took her place on the back of the newly-arrived Dewgong. She soon was out of sight.  
  
"What's her problem?" Colt said with annoyance. Atelli looked at him.  
  
"She likes you, I think. She spaced out when she saw you, anyway. I guess since she can't really do anything about it, she's mean. She can't tell you any other way."  
  
Colt paused, thinking about this. "I don't get it."  
  
"Never mind..." Atelli sighed. "Get on."  
  
Colt was soon out of sight, and Atelli was left by herself. Her Dewgong lept on the shore, smiling.  
  
"Did you do a good job, Dewy?" she asked, petting her Dewgong on the head. Dewy crooned and smiled. She got on her back, soon surfing through the water, laughing and enjoying herself.  
The three pairs of eyes that had been watching the group travel turned to each other.  
  
"This is perfect! I can get revenge for what they did to me!" the larger boy, one with shoulder-length black hair tied back, said with anger. The girl with equally long light-blonde hair glared at him.  
  
"They didn't do it to you! How many times must I say that! We're following them so that one," she counted off on her fingers, "we can take their Pokémon and two, we can find whatever it was that attacked us and destroy it."  
  
The larger boy crossed his arms and sulked. A smaller boy, one that seemed nervous and jumpy looked at the two. He spoke softly.  
  
"After what you...told me, that Pokémon seems very powerful. How will we defeat it?"  
  
"We'l figure it out! It's a Pokémon, isn't it? It's not invincible." The girl said. The smaller boy retracted his question.  
  
"So how do we get across?" The larger boy said, looking across the water. They emerged from the bushes where they were hiding, finding no need to remain concealed.   
  
All of them were wearing almost the same thing, except for the girl. A sleeveless top with gloves up to the elbows, along with a skirt with a slit (in the girls case) that went down to her knees or (in the boys case) loose pants. All were wearing grey boots, which matched with the dark grey outfits. Displayed proudly on the chest of each was a bright white letter "R".  
  
"Don't you have something that can get us across, Nick?" the girl asked the smaller boy. He looked thoughtful, then smiled.  
  
"I know! Go, Connor!" he said, throwing out a Pokéball. A Blastoise appeared from it, large and powerful. "We can ride Connor across and follow them." Nick jumped on the back of his Blastoise and gestured to his team-mates. The larger girl and boy looked at each other.  
  
"I can't swim..."  
  
"Neither can I..."  
  
"Are you sure it's safe, Nick?" The girl asked, not aware a scene like this had just happened in the company of the group they were following. The smaller, brown haired boy nodded.  
  
"Sure. Connor listens to whatever I tell him. Come on."  
  
The larger boy slowly crawled onto Connor's back and looked around nervously.  
  
"Remember, this was your plan, Tashi."  
  
"No it wasn't!" Tashi said, climbing next to her brother. "You're the one who wants revenge for your arm, Reimia."  
  
Reimia ignored her and stared at the sculpted piece of stone that had once been his fully functioning arm. He pointed ahead, jerking Nick's attention from the brief argument.  
  
"That way, Nick. Let's go!"  
  
~~~  
  
Meanwhile, the group that Remia, Tashi, and their latest member, Nick, were pursuing had gathered in front of the opening to a rather large cave.   
  
"Ha!" Monty laughed at the skeptics who had doubted taking this journey, who all gave the same response of sulky stares and mumbling. The Mewtwo, however, was pacing back and forth in front of the cave, as if deciding whether or not to enter or not. He had teleported across the water without difficulty, much to the relief of his mother, but was finding entering the cave a much more difficult ordeal.  
  
"Is this the Unknown Cave?" Ella E asked, looking into the depths that plunged into darkness only a few steps within. Atelli shrugged.  
  
"This looks like it, I guess."  
  
"I think this is it." Kotake said softly. No one heard her.   
  
"So tell me, why are we here again?" Indigo asked impatiently, leaning against a nearby rock with her arms crossed. Ella E looked at the Mewtwo, who didn't seem to notice. His voice entering their heads a moment later proved their assumptions about his attention wrong.  
  
"I remember this place...this is where me and Drak lived for a long time. I think there's a way to the PGRI from here...that would explain how they managed to leave me here after they were done..." Anger could almost be felt in his voice.  
  
"Caleb...?" Ella E turned to the shorter boy, who nodded.  
  
"Charmeleon!" he cried dramatically, releasing the fire lizard. Colt rolled his eyes and made a sound of contempt. Caleb ignored him.  
  
"Charrr..." The Charmeleon took one look at Caleb and snorted in disgust.   
  
"Charmeleon, we need light. Could you walk in front of us to light the way?"  
  
"Meleon." Charmeleon shook his head. Caleb sighed as the Charmeleon busied itself with cleaning it's claws.  
  
"Why doesn't it listen to you?" Indigo looked at the Charmeleon in confusion. Caleb sighed.  
  
"That's because it doesn't trust me. After I was...I was cruel to it for a time, it stopped trusting me. I think the only person it would actually listen to is Ashstar, because she was the one who took care of it while it was recuperating."  
  
"We can use my Vulpix..." Colt suggested. Ella E shook her head.  
  
"No, I don't think so...unless Vulpix can release a steady stream of fire..."  
  
"I think that would overheat it..."  
  
"How about Electric? Anyone have an Electric?" Indigo asked. Atelli and Ella E both nodded at Indigo and the two sisters threw out two Pokéballs at the same moment.  
  
"Go, Autumnn!"   
  
"Go, Nyashock!"  
  
The two voices overlapped as Caleb recalled the errant Charmeleon. The sisters glared at each other. From their Pokéballs came a Raichu and the strange hybrid that was only known as the Nyashock. They, likewise, began glaring at one another.  
  
"We can use Autumnn." Atelli said, putting emphasis on the extra N in the Raichu's name. "Autumnn is powerful enough to light the way for a long time."  
  
"No way!" Ella E picked up the Nyashock, who began purring. It sounded like an electric motor. "Nyashock is MUCH better then your stupid Raichu. Nyashock could light the way super easy!"  
  
"Autumnn!"  
  
"Nyashock!"  
  
"Autumnn!"  
  
"Nyashock!"  
  
"AUTUMNN!"  
  
"NYASHOCK!"  
  
"Stop it, stop it!" Monty broke between the two sisters, who had been screaming at each other. They glared at him. Monty tried to smile disarmingly.  
  
"We can use both. It'd be a lot more useful then one, and they can both help."  
  
Atelli and Ella E seemed to consider restarting the conflict, but in the end listened to Monty. The others in their party breathed a sigh of relief. They entered the caves, where the Nyashock and the Raichu instantly began contesting to see who could give off the most light.  
  
This continued for some time until they noticed that a orangish light, different then the bright yellow of electricity, began showing to their left. Warning their Pokémon to lower the power of their electricity, the group crept closer to the strange light. Soon the light was strong enough so that Autumnn and Nyashock were not needed, and they were able to see.  
  
The fire (which was what everyone assumed it was) was behind a large outcropping of rock. The only thing directly visible were the shadows of the figures, thrown on the opposite wall.  
  
From what they could tell, there were two people sitting next to the fire and another person off to one side, apparently hanging from something. Their hands were tied above their head, and they weren't struggling.  
  
"What's going on?" Atelli whispered. Ella E put a silent finger to her lips to signal for quiet, and the two by the fire began speaking.  
  
They were distinctly female voices, both heavy and rough. They seemed to be laughing at the third figure.  
  
"Hey, freak, tell us that story again!"  
  
"The stupid one you kept singin' to yourself! Come on, speak up!"  
  
The tied figure said nothing, and one of the figures by the flames stood and seemed to throw something at the restrained one. Kotake put her hands to her mouth in horror.  
  
"We have to help her!" she whispered, concern for the person in her voice. Ella E again motioned for her to be silent, also feeling within her that the trapped person was female. She was not sure how Kotake could tell or, for that matter, how she could, but something about her told her that the captive was female, even though the only thing visible was the hazy and indistinct shadow.  
  
"Come on! Talk!" the one still sitting urged. A voice began to speak softly, and to Ella E, Monty, Caleb, and Colt it seemed familiar. It sounded like a poem, but had hints to a rythym like that of a song. It was hypnotizing.   
  
Ella E, as the strange chant continued, began to see things flashing in front of her eyes that were not there. The firelight playing of the walls began to form shapes, that of what looked like armies of things she could not identify, dying around her. Six shapes, facing eachother, each glowing bright scarlet red. Aerodactyls, Omastars, and Kabutops roamed the strange landscape, killing all before them with the glowing eyes. The shapes began to throw the energy at eachother, and the armies she saw began to clash. A rushing noise of battle surged into her mind, and through it all the voice kept chanting.  
  
Power passing through the ages  
Running quick through blood of vein  
Shining in the intense rages  
Tears, anger, darkness, pain  
Beginning of the world created  
Guardians with strength bestowed  
Ebbing tides of crimson abated  
Pulsing in an unknown code  
Trembling in fear the others stand  
No defense against guarding force  
Given with an errant hand  
Flowing from an evil source  
Guardians turn on eachother  
Scarlet ripping through all life  
Screams from the World Mother  
Millions dying, unimaginable strife  
Those who wielded power died  
The world remained bleak and dark  
Life again sprang from the tide  
No others seemed to possess the mark  
How long will the power sleep unwoken?  
How long will this true evil lie hidden?  
Keys of love and truth are spoken  
Releasing power that should not have been given  
Steeped in blood the last one staggered  
Destroying all that raised the challenge  
Loss of all sanity, nothing mattered  
Screaming to the Mother it shall avenge  
Shouting that it will live again  
Blood cannot be stopped forever  
Through these roads, the power it sends  
Bonds of evil cannot be severed  
The power lives, the power flows  
Power deep and dark and dire  
In the weakest's fury, anger shows  
Demon's blood...Saph's Fire...  
  
The two figures continued to laugh as the strange mix between a song and poem ended. The entire group had sat tranfixed as the figure spoke, but as soon as the words stopped, they sprung back to life. Kotake was nearest to Ella E and turned towards her.  
  
"Ella E, please...we have to help her! We can't let them do this!" Kotake begged urgently.   
  
Ella E had a glazed look on her face and she did not seem to hear Kotake at all, her mouth open in what seemed to be surprise.  
  
"Ella E?" Monty shook her urgently, but Ella E seemed to have dissapeared from the realm of consciousness. She showed no signs of motion, only her eyes open and staring. Atelli sighed, sure that her sister was just deciding to daydream. She stood up, drawing Indigo and Kotake's attention. Colt, Caleb, and Monty's attention seemed to be focused on getting Ella E to snap out of it.  
  
"I'm not going to let whoever those are torment that poor girl." Atelli stood, taking her six Pokéballs and holding them in her hand. She looked at Autumnn, who nodded. "I'm going to save her!"  
  
"Me too!" Caleb looked up, apparently shaken out of his concern by the thought of the imprisoned girl. He stood quickly, grabbed Charmeleon's Pokéball, and lept out from behind the rocks.  
  
"Caleb, wait!" Atelli cried uselessly. Caleb threw the Pokéball to the ground and pointed at the two in front of the fire, trying to think of some kind of order to give. He didn't have much time to study them as Charmeleon, jealous of the burning fire in front of the two, began breathing fire all over the place. The two figures ran off, and he could catch a glimpse of what seemed to be green and blue hair. Satisfied that the two had been driven off, he returned Charmeleon. He turned back to the rocks.  
  
"They're gone!" he called. Atelli's voice came in reply.  
  
"What do you think you're doing? You could have gotten killed! They might have had weapons!"  
  
"Don't worry about me! I'll be fine." he said, turning to see who the captive person was. He stopped dead in his tracks, dropping Charmeleon's Pokéball in surprise.  
  
"Ashstar!"  
  
  
Chapter 20  
  
"Comfort"  
  
  
Drak was not sure how long he sat on the strange white stairs, holding Cyrus while he wept. He lost all sense of time in the white place and was only aware of his own heartbeat and the sobs.The mournful sounds kept biting into his heart. He hated hearing someone in this much pain and he longed for some way to alleviate it. He did not know what to do to make Cyrus calm down. It seemed that something had broken within him and he could not stop his tears. The stairs behind Drak were littered with tiny shards.  
  
The pain within Drak grew as the time passed. The pain Cyrus was feeling seemed to invade his own body as he remained in contact with him. Perhaps the mind link was exchanging more then thoughts. Nevertheless, Drak still did not know what happened to Cyrus. He wasn't sure that he wanted to know.  
  
Drak tried to think of a way to comfort Cyrus. He was not sure what to do. He had spent the majority of his life in the dark, underneath the ground, living with his Mewtwo. Memories of that time were a great joy to him, but he knew that Cyrus most likely did not share his feelings. But what memories were comforting to Cyrus? What life had he led before they had been thrown together in this dark place? What kind of life had the strange hybrid lived?  
  
His words had a calming effect on him. That was something that made him feel better, at least. He felt more as though he were doing something then just sitting uselessly. But he knew this wasn't enough. He wasn't sure exactly what he could do, so he tried to remember all the books he had read during his short stay in the outside world. He tried to remember what others had described as comforting or calming. He still did not know whether this would work on Cyrus, but he couldn't think of anything better.  
  
Focusing his mental powers, he began changing the scene around him. The solid white around him began to melt into darker shades, that of black and purple. Concentrating, he made the entire whiteness around him slip away. Instead, there was a beautiful night sky, clear with shimmering stars and a waning moon. Drak wondered whether Cyrus would have liked a full moon, but he had a feeling that he would rather prefer one approaching darkness, although he did not know where this feeling came from. He continued, making the ground form. He wondered briefly whether Cyrus was aware of what he was doing, then tried to keep his focus.  
  
From the sky, land seemed to appear. It formed underneath the white staircase, rocks and earth. With more concentration, Drak made the rocks dissapear and made the ground spring forth with new grass. Trying to remember the vision that had been created in his mind while reading, he kept working. He made the grass extend as far as he could see the land he had made. He then focused and made a small pond nearby, surronded with reeds. Then came the hard part.  
  
The staircase.  
  
Drak concentrated hard, wondering whether his eyes were glowing in his dream world. The staircase beneath them began to change, shifting and melding into a swirl of green and brown. Slowly, it extended to his right and formed a large, shapeless mass. With more concentration, it became an ancient oak, so big that Drak could not put his arms around it. One of the massive branches formed the seat where both Drak and Cyrus sat. The whole branch had been formed in such a way that both Drak and Cyrus remained in their original positions while the surroundings changed, something that took a great deal of concentration.   
  
But Drak wasn't done. He tried to remember every detail, hoping this would make Cyrus calm down. He focused hard, creating small minute fireflies that flitted about the grass. As the last effect, he created a soft breeze that rustled the leaves and blew through the grass.  
  
Drak relaxed his tensed muscles, exhausted from the strenous effort of reshaping the entire environment. He shook Cyrus gently, trying to awaken him from his sadness.  
  
"Cyrus...Cyrus, come look. Look." Drak said softly, trying not to sound threatening. Drak could feel Cyrus' tears halting for the first time in a long while. Cyrus sniffed and looked up, then turned around, his eyes widening.  
  
"What's this?" he asked weakly. His voice had lost the bravado and confidence that it had previously, and the accent had become worse then ever. Drak continued to speak softly, not wanting to provoke him unless necessary.  
  
"If this is Cyrus..." he thought to himself. "If it is, it's a Cyrus I've never seen. A Cyrus I bet no one has ever seen. Or should see."  
  
"Cyrus, do you like this?" he spoke outloud.  
  
"Like what?" He stared, confused and a little afraid. Drak found himself wondering whether Cyrus' mind had matured along with his body. Even though Cyrus seemed mature at first, now he seemed to be his real age. Three. And he was frightened.  
  
"The surroundings. I wanted to make something to calm you."  
  
"I...I can't believe it..." Cyrus said, looking at his hands, apparently ignoring everything around him. He seemed to be locked back in what had happened. "I can't believe she...why...I don't understand..."  
  
Drak watched as he began crying again. Sighing inwardly, he wondered what to do. He had hoped that the environment would have done something for him, but knew that nothing could wipe away so grievous a wound so quickly. Whatever the wound was.   
  
Cyrus' hands trembled and he clenched them in what seemed to be anger. Drak could see blood rising from the injuries that Cyrus' sharp nails had inflicted on his own flesh. He could see that Cyrus was aware of the pain, but was doing nothing to stop it. Drak realized that Cyrus was hurting himself on purpose, punishing himself for something tht wasn't his fault, and knew he had to stop him. But he did not know how. Not knowing what to do, Drak improvised.  
  
He drew Cyrus close to him, holding his wrists and stopping him from tearing at himself. Cyrus tried to struggle for a moment.  
  
"It's Drak! It's Drak! A friend, Cyrus, I'm your friend. Relax, okay? I'm just trying to help." Drak noticed the terrified look in his eyes fade away as Cyrus seemed to realize who he was.  
  
"A friend..." he said softly. Drak could feel how frail Cyrus really was...he could almost feel his bones through his skin. Wondering to himself why Cyrus was so weak, he looked at the pond he had made. The moon reflected in the water. Cyrus followed his gaze. This, apparently, was what Cyrus had been looking for, and Drak could feel his muscles relaxing. He breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"What is this place?" Cyrus spoke in a soft whisper that could barely be heard. But Drak knew how to communicate telepathically and was skilled in picking up the habits from physical conversations that came forth in mental ones.  
  
"I read about it in a book once. Nice, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah..." Cyrus sighed softly.  
  
"Cyrus...are you feeling better now?"  
  
Cyrus paused for a moment, as if remembering something. Then he clutched compulsively at Drak's shirt, as if desperate for something to cling to. He buried his face in his chest, beginning to cry again. Drak sat awkwardly, not sure of what to do and feeling slightly guilty for having said what he felt was the wrong thing.  
  
"You don't know...you don't know...how it feels..." Drak could barely make out what Cyrus gasped between his tears. "You have no idea, kid...the pain..."  
  
"It's okay, it's okay..." Drak remembered reading a book about a mother and her child. When the child had cried, the mother had stroked her hair. Not being able to think of any other way of reacting, he tried it. Cyrus did not react. "It's over now, okay? It won't happen again."  
  
"Yes it will!" Cyrus said with sudden fury and desperation. He stared out into the scenery that Drak had created, his voice quieting. "It will...'cause 'm not really human...'m an experiment...'m not even a Pokémon...'m not anything but a specimen..."  
  
Drak expected Cyrus to begin crying again at these words, but he was surprised to find that Cyrus' voice was flat and passive.  
  
"No, it won't happen again. I promise, okay? I promise."  
  
"You can't help me...yer not with me..."  
  
"I'm here."  
  
"This doesn't count." Cyrus spoke with anger. "This is just in my head. Yer not there for my body."  
  
"Your mind is more important than your body."  
  
Cyrus paused and thought about this. Drak watched him carefully, not sure of what he would try to do.   
  
"Really?" he said finally.  
  
"Sure. That's where we are, right? Our minds. And I made all this with my mind."  
  
Cyrus remained silent.  
  
"Hey kid..." his voice had taken on some form of control, and that helped Drak feel better. He had to admit that he had felt extremely awkward while Cyrus was so weak and vulnerable. It was as if that was something no one should see, especially him. And since he had no idea how to help, that did not help his feelings of unease.  
  
"Yeah?" Drak had long gotten used to the fact that Cyrus did not like the concept of names. It was the impression he got from "Doc, Prof, and the Lady". It actually didn't bother him that he was constantly referred to as "kid".  
  
"Did you mean that #$^# about bein' my friend?"  
  
Drak smiled in spite of himself at the obscenity, knowing that Cyrus had regained some control.  
  
"If you want me to be your friend, sure." Drak did not want to pressure Cyrus in his decision. He knew the creature was easy to anger, rough, and seemed to know nothing about any human emotions. As Drak reflected against his last, split-second thought, he wondered at the use of "creature". What would Cyrus like to be called? Human? Pokémon?  
  
Drak answered his own question. Cyrus.  
  
"You *%&#in' wanna be my *%&#in' friend? Serious? Yer not #$^#in' me?" Cyrus seemed to have regained control of his emotions and had moved away from Drak, leaning against the tree. He had the same sarcastic smile that he usually had, one that made most people hate or mistrust him instantly. Since Drak knew now what it was hiding, it held no fear or suspicion for him.  
  
"No, I'm not." Drak wondered what his Mewtwo would say if he ever found out what he was doing. He had a inner feeling that Mewtwo and Cyrus had never fully gotten along. Or at least, that was the impression he got from Cyrus' talk about him. Mewtwo and Cyrus...M-2 Specimen B and M-2 Specimen C. He could not believe that a long time ago, these wonderful people he knew, his friends, in an odd way, had been created to satisfy some scientific curiousity. It staggered his mind.  
  
"Well, sure I guess. Never had a friend tho', you know. Didn't have much time for it. And no one really liked to hang around me much, anyway." Cyrus laughed humourlessly. He looked at the surroundings. "I'll say this, kid. You can do a scene right from the *%&#in' book."  
  
"Did you ever read?" Drak asked idly. Cyrus shrugged.  
  
"A little. Not much. I can tell this is storybook, tho'. Obvious. Nice place." Cyrus moved from leaning against the tree to sprawling across the broad limb he had been sitting on, staring past the leaves into the sky. "Makes it hard to believe..."  
  
"What happened?" Drak knew this might bring back some pain, but he wanted to know, despite his best inner feelings that he shouldn't ask. He could see Cyrus' face wince with pain, and he stared at the sky. The sky, the moon, nor the stars reflected in his strange eyes.  
  
"How old are you, kid?"  
  
"I'm thirteen. I think. That's what Ella E tells me, anyway. I did not keep track of years underground. It didn't seem significant."  
  
"Underground...? Oh right, you lived with B. Thirteen, eh...You look thirteen, so I think she's right. Sure act older tho', kid, I'll tell you that. *%&#in' more mature then a lot of others I've met. Thirteen..." he shook his head.  
  
"I don't know, really..." Drak wasn't sure if Cyrus was doubting him or just repeating the number. "It could be higher or lower."  
  
"Thirteen and they stuck you here." Cyrus continued as if Drak had never spoken. "That's *%&#in' depressin'." Cyrus sighed deeply. He seemed to remember what had brought them to this topic. "They got me, kid."  
  
"What does that mean?" Drak asked curiously. Cyrus looked at him with a strange mixture of pity and sadness.  
  
"You'll prolly understand it when yer older, kid. Let's hope it never happens to you."  
  
"What? What happens?"  
  
Cyrus just sighed again. Finally resigning himself to the fact that he would not get any satisfactory answer from Cyrus, Drak looked at Cyrus' eyes. They were misting over.  
  
"She really hurt you, didn't she?"  
  
"Yeah, she *%&#in' hurt me, kid!" he said with a flare of anger that surprised Drak. It seemed to come out of nowhere. "In ways you wouldn't understand..."  
  
Drak shrugged again.  
  
"Well, don't worry."   
  
Cyrus looked at him. Drak smiled brightly, a strange contrast to the serious expression that Cyrus wore.   
  
"I said I'd protect you, right?"  
  
"Ha." Cyrus laughed again, this time with scorn. "You can't protect me. Yer just a kid."  
  
"That's not going to stop me. I won't let her hurt you again. I promise."  
  
"You can't do anything, kid." Cyrus shook his head in pity. "You don't even know where I am. Yer in yer own *%&#in' cell and 'm in mine. And 'm...stuck." Cyrus had paused as if trying to find a proper word for it.   
  
"Well, I don't care. I'll find a way. I bet Teishi knows where you are."  
  
"Who?"  
  
Drak stared at Cyrus until he seemed to remember. He snapped his fingers.  
  
"Right, right, the slave kid."  
  
"He's not a slave." Drak protested, but Cyrus largely ignored him.  
  
"Whatever. You think this kid could really find out where I am?"  
  
"Teishi said he works for the higher-ups, or something." Drak thought for a moment. "He could probably find out where you are, bring you over to where I am, and together we can get you out."  
  
"Get me out?"  
  
"You don't want to stay, do you?"  
  
"*%&# no."  
  
"Then what?"  
  
Cyrus laughed again. "Well, I came here to get YOU out, and now yer the one who saves ME. What the *%&#..." This laugh was not one of scorn or derision, but of genuine amusement. It was a welcome change. Drak crossed his arms.  
  
"That brings me back to my original question, a long time ago. How did YOU know I was here and why did you want to bring me out?"  
  
Cyrus laughed again. "Okay, I'll admit it. I had no *%&#in' clue you were in here, okay? I jus' wanted to come here so I could-"  
  
"Kill Dr. Dowasure?" Drak spoke slowly. Cyrus looked at him, was silent for a moment, then sighed.  
  
"Sure, I guess. That was part of it, sure. I wanted to come here to blow the *%&#in' place to pieces. Hate this place. *%&#in' hate it. I thought if I blew it up, no one else would get hurt."  
  
"Really? Somehow I don't think you're that altruistic."  
  
"Altru-what?" Cyrus blinked, then shrugged. "I don't give a *%&#. Okay, maybe I wanted to blow it up so I wouldn't have to *%&#in' be paranoid about 'em findin' me again."  
  
"How did you find out about me?"  
  
"*%&# man, all I wanted to do was blow up the *%&#in' scientists, not some other poor #$^#-birds that got stuck here. So I flipped through their files and found you, kid. Said you were special or somethin', had some psychic powers. Somethin' like that. So I thought 'What the @#&#! I'll find the kid and make him help me.' So I go walkin' through the halls, hear some arguments goin' on. And the Doc's voice. I get real *%&#in' mad, 'cause it reminds me about everythin' that happened to me. So I tried to shoot 'em in the head, then you threw my aim off, kid."  
  
"I did?"  
  
"Sure. I saw you and was like 'Jesus Christ! 'S the *%&#in' kid!' and pulled away at the last second. Only clipped that %&$# doctor's arm tho'. %&$# it, next time I'll..." Cyrus clenched a fist. Drak looked at him, wondering whether he was going to continue, but since Cyrus remained silent, Drak guessed that perhaps he didn't find a need to go on. Drak picked up the conversation.  
  
"Either way, I'll help you out of here, okay? I'm glad you told me the truth, though."  
  
"You are?"  
  
"Sure, it means you trust me."  
  
Cyrus shook his head at himself and murmured a word to himself. "*%&#...." Drak ignored this.  
  
"Me and Teishi will find a way. He knows the whole place like the back of his hands, I bet."  
  
"Speakin' of which, what the *%&# happened ta his arms?" Cyrus spoke with sudden energy. "They were all *% up and stuff."  
  
Drak thought back to what Teishi had said and found that he remembered it very clearly, because it had so shocked and saddened him. He recited it softly. "Sometimes people want me to do things...but I can't because I'm tired or I'm too weak...so...they signal their displeasure in different ways..."  
  
Cyrus looked at him in confusion. Drak shrugged.  
  
"He said that. That's all he would tell me."  
  
"Poor *%r." Cyrus spoke with little emotion, but Drak knew that was all he would probably get out of him. "Hey wait...you keep talkin' like you ain't comin' with me." Cyrus now looked at him suspiciously. Drak looked off to one side.  
  
"I can't leave. There's something I have to do."  
  
"What? What could you *%&#in' need to do here?"  
  
"I don't know. I just know there's something. I can't leave until I do it."  
  
"What about...um, what was her name...Ella E. Doncha want to go back to her?"  
  
Drak sighed deeply. "More then anything, but I can't. I can't until I know what I have to do."  
  
Cyrus shook his head. "Yer a *%&#in' idiot." Drak smiled helplessly.  
  
"I can't leave...not yet. I'll get you out, so you don't have to worry about that. I promise I will."  
  
"That's not the *%&#in' point, kid! I ain't leavin' you here by yourself!"  
  
"So you care about me?"  
  
"Yer my *%&#in' friend, you %&$# moron! I ain't leavin' you here!"  
  
Drak laughed.  
  
"Sorry, but I can't let you stay here with me and get hurt again. I have to go and see Teishi and see if he's up to go and look for you. Talk to you later."  
  
"Don't you turn yer *%&#in' back on me now, kid!" Cyrus spoke with indignance and anger, but Drak only winked at him.  
  
"I'll be back soon, I promise. Don't worry so much, Cy. You're almost acting human." With that parting shot, Drak vanished. He caught a glimpse of Cyrus trying to think of a suitable retort before he left.  
  
Although Drak had put on a air of non-chalance while he was leaving, in truth it worried him deeply to leave Cyrus alone. He was worried that Cyrus would begin to hurt himself again as soon as he was gone. As soon as he got Teishi up and going, he would re-establish the link.  
  
Slowly, Drak came back into his body. It seemed like hours since he had left, and he felt very stiff.  
  
"Sir!" Teishi was instantly at his side. He looked at him with surprise. He noticed deep lines under his eyes of weariness and his thin hands shook. Drak suddenly noticed that both Cyrus and Teishi were alike in body. He could see the bones protruding out of Teishi's skin, just as he had Cyrus. This disturbed him for some reason and he did not know why.  
  
"Did you get ANY sleep?" Drak asked him roughly. Teishi did not react to this, only showing a great deal of relief at the sound of his voice.  
  
"Sir, thank goodness, sir! I was worried! You have never been away for so long! Who were you talking to, sir?"  
  
"What were you doing while I was talking?"  
  
"You started getting really cold, sir. I put some of those blankets on you." Drak noticed the blankets, glancing around slowly. He felt his skin and found it cold to the touch. It did not surprise him. "I was worried you weren't going to come back, so I watched you."  
  
Drak put his head in his hands.  
  
"Teishi, I told you to get some sleep. Don't you ever think about yourself?"  
  
Teishi just smiled and avoided the question.  
  
"I'm just glad you're okay."  
  
"Because they won't beat you silly?" Drak said meanly, surprised at his own anger. After speaking and being so tolerant with Cyrus, he found his patience strained. He felt awful for taking it out on Teishi, who had done nothing. Although he expected some kind of reaction to his statement, Teishi was too relieved he was alive to notice apparently.  
  
"Oh no, sir, it's not that. They'd do that anyway." Teishi didn't even seem to realize how much he was saying. Drak was surprised at this. Teishi usually avoided the subject.   
  
"Then what?" Drak asked. Teishi looked at him with his large green eyes. Seeing those eyes made Drak think of Cyrus. He noticed that both had some kind of innocence in them, like of something that did not know how dangerous the world really was. He found this hard to believe about Cyrus, but he knew it was true. And with Teishi, it was painfully evident. Now that he thought about it, Dr. Dowasure also had a touch of that innocence in his eyes. It made him sad to think of all these people that he had met that had such wonderful, innocent eyes had to be put through so much pain, although Dr. Dowasure was not consciously included in these thoughts.  
  
"You're the only person I know who treats me like a person, you know that, sir? Everyone else just hits me if I do something wrong. Like Dr. Kagakusha. But you don't. You tell me to sleep instead of help you, you tell me to stop worrying about you and go rest. You tell me to stand up for myself, even though I can't. It means a lot, sir. Really it does."  
  
"How many people have you cared for?"  
  
"I lost count. A long time ago, sir. None of them were like you, though."  
  
"Teishi, I need to ask you something."  
  
"Yes, sir?" Teishi again had the voice that had the kind of tone in it that he wanted to please. It bothered Drak. Drak stared him directly in the eyes to show him that he was serious, but found it mostly un-necessary. Teishi had already established direct eye-contact and was not moving his eyes.  
  
"I need you to find the cell that has Cyrus in it. I need you to bring him here."  
  
"Cyrus? You mean M-2 Specimen C?" Teishi looked surprised, then frightened. "But I can't, they'll catch me, they'll-"  
  
"They won't do anything to you." Drak grabbed him by the shoulders to try and emphasize his point and found that he had again forgotten about the bruises that mottled Teishi's arms. Teishi flinched at the sudden pain that was unintended. "I protected you from Dr. Kagakusha before, and I'll protect you from anything else that tries to hurt you."  
  
"Really, sir?" Drak found it slightly ironic that almost this exact scene had happened only a few moments ago. He nodded again.  
  
"Don't worry, Teishi. I'm just going to get Cyrus out of here-"  
  
"You're going to escape!" Teishi spoke with surprise. Instantly, his eyes got misty. "Please don't, sir, please please. Don't leave me here alone. You're the only person I've ever met who cared. Please, sir, don't go."  
  
"You didn't let me finish." Drak watched him carefully and felt pity rising within him at the desperate tone in Teishi's voice. "I didn't say I was leaving. I just said that I was going to take Cyrus out."  
  
"You aren't leaving?" Teishi looked relieved. "Thank you, sir!"  
  
"Shh." Drak tried to calm Teishi down. He decided not to mention Cyrus' denial and outright refusal of leaving him alone. "Not so loud. I just know there's something I have to do here. I can't leave until I do."  
  
"Sir...please..." Teishi looked up at Drak again with his tearful eyes. "If you ever leave this place, please...take me with you." Tears were openly flowing now. "Take me with you, wherever you go. I don't care where, just anywhere other then here and near you. I swear, I'll do whatever you want. Just don't leave me in this dark place."  
  
Briefly, Ella E and his past problems flashed across his mind. What would she say? What would everyone say? How would he explain it? Where would he sleep? What would he eat? How could her house hold yet another person?  
  
These thoughts quickly vanished as he realized that Teishi was grasping his arm tightly, refusing to let go, and crying silently.   
  
"I'll take you with me." he said simply. Teishi made a quiet sound of gratitude. All this effort had worn him out, having stayed awake for who knows how long, and he fell asleep, sprawled across Drak's lap. Drak stared at him, looked up, and sighed.  
  
"Now I promised to take care of TWO people..." he thought silently to himself. "What's come over me? Why can't I leave here?..." he looked down at the sleeping boy across his lap and tried to remember who he was back what seemed like years ago, when all that was on his mind was Ella E. Now he knew so much more, and it had changed him.   
  
Who was he then and who would he be when this was all over? Drak did not know. All he knew was who he was in the present, and that was all that he wanted to know. He leaned back, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep, but a question kept circling around in his head, driving away all thoughts of sleep, and it would not leave. It also would not be answered.  
  
"Who are you?" 


	10. Disappear

Chapter 21  
  
"Prophecy"  
  
  
The silver-haired girl stared at Caleb mournfully, struggling a little as if to remind him of her plight. Caleb continued to gape at her in shock for a few seconds before finaly becoming coherent.  
  
"What are YOU doing here?"  
  
Soon Indigo, Atelli, and Kotake walked out to join Caleb and stared at her in confusion. A quick glance behind him confirmed what he had thought. Monty and Colt were trying to get Ella E to snap out of her strange daze. Caleb secretly wished he was with them.  
  
Indigo instantly was at Ashstar's side, showing a unusual amount of compassion. Kotake lingered back and glared at Ashstar with what could be seen as hatred. Atelli was not sure who exactly this was, so just waited to see what would happen.  
  
"Are you hurt? We'll get you down in a second!" Indigo sounded concerned, which was odd considering how cold she had been to nearly everyone else in their party.  
  
"I'm not hurt badly. Thank you, anyway." Ashstar spoke softly. It was obvious that she had been injured however by the black eye she had and numerous small cuts on her face and arms.  
  
Indigo struggled to reach the bonds that held Ashstar captive, but was not tall enough. Ashstar was taller then most of those in the cave at present, considering her age.   
  
"Is there anyone taller here?" she spoke with uncommonly intense urgency.  
  
"The tallest one is Colt...Colt!" Atelli called back. There was no answer for a moment, then Colt's head poked out from behind the outcropping.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Can you untie her?"  
  
"Ella E's a little dazed here..."  
  
"She'll be fine in a second. Just come on."  
  
Colt reluctantly left Ella E's side and walked forward until he could see the captive clearly. He shook his head and sighed, walking forward. Standing straight, he was able to reach the ropes and began to untie them.  
  
"You never stay out of trouble, do you..." he muttered to himself. Ashstar glared at him.  
  
"It wasn't my fault."  
  
"So who were those people? What happened?" Caleb asked curiously. As soon as the ropes were gone, Ashstar collapsed from the sudden release of the strain that kept her arms held up. Colt luckily caught her and steadied her until she could stand safely.  
  
"Okay now?" he spoke without any visible emotion. Ashstar rubbed her wrists.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. I can stand now, thank you."  
  
Ashstar stood on her wobbley legs, slowly getting her equilibrium and looked at Caleb.  
  
"I was captured by those two...two people." Ashstar said 'people' with visible reluctance. "They said I was a freak because of my hair and eyes. Not exactly normal colors, you know."  
  
Indigo laughed to herself, but did not explain why.  
  
"Anyway, they took away all my money and asked me whether I could sing or something for them. So I did the only thing I could. I said-"  
  
"What WAS that you said, anyway?" Colt crossed his arms, staring at her with suspicion. She didn't seem to notice.  
  
"Well, I just call it the Prophecy myself. Dramatic, huh? I don't think it prophecies anything though. I think it just warns against something. What would that be called...?" Ashstar thought for a moment, but shrugged. "Anyway, they thought it was funny, so they made me say it occasionally. Other then that, not much happened."  
  
"Who are 'they'?" Indigo looked at Ashstar, wondering what to make of her. She had never met the girl herself, but she didn't seem like a bad kind of person. She could see by most of the others around her though that she had done something hurtful to them all, although she wasn't aware of what it was.  
  
"Um...Hmm." She scratched her head. "They didn't tell me their names. I don't think they were with Team Rocket though. They didn't have the costumes or anything. Maybe they're a independent faction. In fact, I don't think I ever actually saw them clearly...they always stuck to the shadows, as if they didn't want to be seen. I thought it was odd, myself."  
  
"There are lots of thieves that aren't Rockets..." Colt said to himself, although no one was listening.  
  
"What did they do to you? Did they hit you or anything?" Indigo asked, looking at the cuts and the black eye with suspicion. Ashstar touched her face gingerly and laughed bitterly.  
  
"I was dragged around a bit, I think. They jumped me from behind, knocked me out with something. I woke up and here I was." she gestured at the rope that Colt had untied fully and was now putting into Atelli's backpack (Atelli was the only one who had thought far enough ahead to bring such a thing). "They smacked me around a bit, but nothing serious."  
  
"Are you sure? That's a nasty black eye. I've had my fair share." Colt looked at her critically, but Ashstar shied away from him. She then seemed to actually look at Indigo for the first time.  
  
"Who are you?" She looked around. "I remember the boys and Ella E...but I don't think I've seen any of you three before." She pointed at Atelli, Kotake, and Indigo. Kotake had hidden in the shadows, so her face was obscured. Ashstar did not recognize her in her condition and had simply assumed that it was another one of Ella E's companions.  
  
"My name's Atelli. I'm Ella E's sister." Atelli shook hands with the girl and found that she seemed like a nice enough person. She seemed kind of quiet at first, but then she was full of strange, unfounded energy that seemed to come out of nowhere. She would make a good friend, if she tried.  
  
"I'm Indigo." Indigo also shook her hand, but had yet to make up her mind about Ashstar. From what she had heard, she was not a good person, and she was not about to let down her guard so easily.  
  
"You know me." Kotake stepped into the view of Ashstar and Ashstar looked surprised for a moment.  
  
"Yes, I do know you, Kotake. Where's your sister?" Ashstar spoke with previously unknown hatred. Kotake glared at her, deeply hurt.  
  
"She's missing, because of you."  
  
"She's dead, rather..." Colt mumbled to himself, feeling uncomfortable. The two who had assaulted Ashstar were gone, which meant they could be hiding somewhere in the cave. He didn't like this.  
  
Kotake ignored him and Ashstar did likewise.  
  
"It's not my fault she was a psychopath who forced me to spy on Ella E."  
  
"Forced you? I bet you did it just for the joy of hurting something again."  
  
The two girls were glaring fiercely at eachother and it was Indigo who finally broke it off.  
  
"You're acting like Atelli and Ella E now. You two should learn to put the past behind you. This whole thing is ridiculous!"  
  
Atelli was considering replying to the comment about her and her sister, but was interrupted.  
  
"Where's Caleb?" Colt asked, breaking through the air of tension that was building. The girls turned to look at him, then looked around.  
  
"That's a good point. Where is he?"  
  
"You mean the short one?" Ashstar scratched her head. "The one who chased them off?"  
  
"Yes, him. Where is he?" Atelli sighed and looked around.  
  
"Don't tell me he wandered off..." Indigo walked forward. "Caleb! CALEB!"  
  
Colt was secretly happy, but he knew he should keep a straight face. "Hmm. I guess he wandered away from the light."  
  
Atelli turned to Autumnn, who had been providing light in this area. The Nyashock was back with Ella E, refusing to leave it's owner. "Autumnn, did you see him walk off?"  
  
"Rai rai..." Autumnn shook her head. "Raichu rai."  
  
"I guess we'll have to look for him..." Indigo sighed. She noticed that Ashstar and Kotake had begun glaring again.   
  
"Ashstar, why don't you go and watch over Ella E with Monty? He probably needs the help." In truth, Atelli actually wanted to seperate Ashstar from Kotake, sensing the inherent hatred that flowed between the two. Ashstar blinked.  
  
"What happened to Ella E?"  
  
"That "prophecy" of yours made her pass out." Kotake seemed filled with sudden violent energy. It confused Atelli as to where it came from.  
  
"It did? That's weird..." Ashstar mumbled to herself as she walked in the direction of the other light.   
  
"Okay...Everyone follow Autumnn." Atelli drew their attention away from the departing Ashstar and back to the situation at hand. "We'll look around here. He couldn't have gone far."  
  
Atelli held onto Autumnn's tail, and the remaining three followed her.  
  
"Why is he always running off like that..." Colt mumbled angrily to himself.  
  
~~~  
  
Caleb had seen something off to his left and was curious as to what it was. He was also aware that the two were still loose in the cave and was also uncomfortable. So when he had seen something moving off to his left, he went to investigate.  
  
Now that he thought about it, that was not a smart thing to do. He had no light, no weapons (except for his Pokémon), and was alone. It was only a matter of seconds before he had gotten himself completly lost in the dark caves. He considered releasing his Charmeleon for light before he remembered it's disobediant nature and the fact that the light could attract unwanted attention. Whoever the two people were, he didn't want them to find him. So he had to try and find his way through the cave completly in the dark, which wasn't easy. Soon he was covered with scrapes and bruises from tripping and brushing against sharp and unknown things.  
  
After what felt like hours of wandering blindly, Caleb was beginning to wonder whether or not he would ever get out. Or be found. As it was, he did not want to attract attention to himself. This meant he would not be found by anyone. Not his friends, not his enemies. It was a uncomfortable stalemate that Caleb was not sure how to resolve. He was wondering whether he had always been walking in the cave, as his memories of daylight and vision began to fade from his memory. It began to seem as if he had always been walking forward, his arms held out in front of him, stumbling and tripping on the sharp rocks of the cave floor. It seemed that the darkness was surrounding him, as if wearing him down so it could strike him when he was weak and unaware. It was as if the darkness was some kind of living creature that hated him and wished his death. If he ever stopped moving, then it would descend upon him. He had to keep moving. That seemed like all he could do and all he had been doing for his life.  
  
While his thoughts became more and more abstract, the floor stopped.  
  
He screamed briefly as he slid down a steep incline, apparently some kind of pit that had formed in the cave. The scream pierced what seemed like the veil of silence and darkness that had been around him, and he was suddenly aware of where he was and who he had been once more. The spell of the darkness was broken, but now Caleb was sliding down what felt like a sharp cliff edge. He tried to stop himself with his feet, but only resulted in over-balancing himself and flipping forwards, landing painfully on his back with a crunch on the sharp gravel which lined the incline. Deciding he might was well stop trying to struggle, he tried to lay flat. The friction of the incline pulled his shirt upwards, leaving his back vulnerable to the sharp rocks. Wincing in pain, he bit back any screams that he wanted so desperatly to release. He could not attract any more attention then could already be warranted from his previous release of sound.   
  
The incline stopped abruptly, ending without warning, and he flew off the edge. Believing he was going to die, he closed his eyes in fear, biting his lip hard to stop himself from crying out. It turned out that the incline stopped only three feet above the ground and he only had a short fall before he landed. He rolled for a few feet and rested for a few moments, getting his breath back. The scar on his face ached as, he guessed, dirt was rubbed into it from his ordeal.  
  
The darkness seemed to breathe around him, making Caleb wonder if this was just a trick of his mind or if the impenetrable darkness he had been wandering around in for the last few hours (or so it felt) was causing him to slowly go insane. Or perhaps it was only the impact of the fall that had caused this strange feeling.   
  
Now he was sure he could never be found. Perhaps he was in some kind of gully. He couldn't cry out or he would bring the two for him. He was genuinely lost and stuck, and he wasn't sure what to do.   
  
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.  
  
He tried to stand, after closing his eyes to stop the hallucinations and getting past the pain of his fall, when he felt something on his back. It felt almost like a foot.  
  
"What do we have here?" a female voice, deep and rough, came from behind him. Caleb started at the sound of another human's voice after so long in the darkness and silence. He then groaned when he realized that he had stumbled upon the very two he had been trying to avoid. He heard someone else kneeling near him and grabbing his face painfully, forcing it upwards. He winced as his scar was pinched harshly.  
  
The girl was carrying a small stick of what seemed to be some kind of glowing material, soft and green. It was about the size of a pencil. Caleb stared at it briefly, not sure of whether or not he had seen it before. It seemed like the kind of thing that someone would buy in a novelty shop, although this light was more ethereal and unreal. He blamed it as his eyes adjusting to the sudden light from the darkness. She held this glowing material near his face, which hurt his eyes slightly. It wasn't strong enough to badly hurt his eyes, but he winced anyway. Caleb finally looked at the girl who was holding the glowing thing.  
  
She had dark green hair, which was very short and messy. She had angry yellow eyes and what seemed like a thin, drawn face. Caleb could not see more of her then her face and her hands, which were also thin and bony. His first impression was that she didn't seem to be of this earth, although Caleb knew that was impossible. She had a odd look on her face as she stared at Caleb. She didn't seem to like what she was seeing.  
  
"Is this the child that had the Charmeleon?" She asked her compatriot, not taking her eyes off of Caleb's face. He could feel the person behind him put some more pressure on his aching back. Her voice also seemed strange, like it didn't come from her mouth, but her body. He couldn't see the other person, but he guessed she was nodding.  
  
"He had a scar across his face. Does he have one?" The other voice was much like the first.  
  
"A large one." She slowly shone the light down the course of the scar he had gotten so long ago that had never healed. He tried to move his face, but he couldn't fight her strong grip. "Top of his right eye to his left jawline. Was that it?"  
  
"Yes. So...this is our little troublemaker, eh? A noble one to come to the freak in distress. Where are your friends now, little one?"  
  
"Who are you?" Caleb managed to gasp out. The two girls paused for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to tell him.   
  
"I'm Gabriella. This is Michelle." The girl in front of him pointed to the girl behind him. Caleb tried to struggle briefly, but soon realized this was useless.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"What everyone wants. Revenge, I suppose." He felt strong hands grab him from behind and throw him harshly on the wall. The breath knocked out of him, he looked in surprise at the other girl, this one with dark blue hair, scraggly and long, and what seemed like red eyes. She also seemed thin and bony, although frighteningly strong.  
  
"For what?"  
  
"There are many things. Most of which you wouldn't understand, but I do think you would understand one. You let the freak escape us." Gabriella said. The two of them seemed completly emotionless about what they were doing. Caleb was terrified.  
  
"Ashstar isn't with me. I don't know where she is." Caleb tried to speak through his fear.  
  
"Where are your friends, then? I know you had quite a few, didn't you? I told you I heard something, Michelle."  
  
Michelle shrugged and returned her attention to Caleb. Caleb looked back and forth between the two girls.  
  
"What are you going to do?" he gasped out. The two girls looked thoughtful for a moment.  
"I hadn't thought of that."  
  
Gabriella kept the sparse light away from her and her companion, instead keeping it near Caleb's face. She turned towards Michelle.  
  
"Why don't we bring him to the Lab? I think we could get some money for him." Michelle looked at him carefully. She ran a finger down his scar experimentally and Caleb shuddered and twitched involuntarily. She stared directly into his eyes. "Even with that scar, I think he would be worth something, don't you think?"  
  
"They always need new material for their experiments..." Gabriella nodded slowly. "Yes, I think that will do. A fitting end for the little noble one."  
  
"Where are you taking me? I won't go!" Caleb kicked out, but found that he was no longer touching the floor. The two girls looked at him almost in confusion.  
  
"You don't have a choice." Gabriella finally spoke. She was the one who was holding him against the wall. She placed some pressure on his shoulder, making Caleb give a strangled noise that almost resembled a scream, but muffled. Michelle looked at him with what almost looked like respect.  
  
"You're strong not to scream. That's admirable for someone of your stature, little one. Hmm...you must get some recognition for that. Well..." Michelle seemed to be deep in thought. "If you do not struggle, we won't restrain you. The freak tried, so we had to restrain her as well. We'll allow you to walk with us if you do not try to escape."  
  
"Michelle..." Gabriella hissed at her companion urgently. Michelle glared at her for a moment and Gabriella let the issue drop.  
  
"What if I run off in the dark? You could never find me." Caleb was curious as to how far he could push the strange pair. His statement got him no reaction.  
  
"Where would you go?"  
  
Caleb was struck dumb by the sudden obviousness of his dilemma. He was dropped to the ground, where he stumbled momentarily as he tried to gain his balance. The two girls did not offer to help him. Caleb noticed that the two girls were just staring at him as he stood. Michelle offered the glowing stick to him.  
  
"Take this if you need it."  
  
"But...don't you need it for light?" Caleb looked at the strange girls. The soft green light was not enough for him to get a good look at the two girls and all he could see of them while the green light was in his hand were their eyes, which seemed to glow with their own power. They did not respond. Not sure of what else to do, he tried a different question.  
  
"You mentioned the lab. Is that the PGRI?"  
  
"Some call it that." Gabriella spoke with her strange voice. Caleb felt conflicting emotions within him. He was glad that he was going towards the Lab, but he didn't want to do it alone. He noticed the two girls staring at him as if expecting something.  
  
"What are you?" he asked, not sure where the words came from. The question had just burst forth abruptly, although he knew that he had wanted to ask it for quite some time. He anticipated some kind of bad reaction to his question, but was relieved to find the girls just stared at him.  
  
"The Fallen." With that, the two girls turned and began walking away. Caleb rushed to join with them, knowing that without them, he would never find ANY exit out of the caves.  
  
"The Fallen? What do you mean?"  
  
A hand gripped his shoulder with frightening strength.  
  
"Don't ask questions you would regret having answered."  
  
Caleb took the hint and remained silent. Hoping that somehow, his friends would find him and rescue him from the strange people, he continued walking along with the two silent girls.  
  
~~~  
  
"Ella E...Ella E! Wake up!" Ashstar shook the young girl gently, but Ella E seemed to be in a trance. Monty was the only one who had remained, and he looked frightened.  
  
"It was what you said that did this to her. Why? She will wake up, won't she?"  
  
Ashstar spoke distractedly. "Of course she will. I think she just went into shock."  
  
"Where did you learn that poem-song thing?"  
  
"My parents. It's a family thing, you know."  
  
"You come from a special family?"  
  
Ashstar laughed bitterly. "Not that I know of."  
  
"Why would they pass something like that along?"  
  
"Oh, my grandmother always used to babble on about "being guardians of the earth" or something like that. Then again, she was kind of crazy. She kept saying that there was a orange hidden in the piano..." Ashstar shook her head slowly as if in pity.  
  
"Guardians of the Earth?"  
  
Ashstar shrugged. "I know as much about it as you do. She just talked about it a lot and my parents made me learn the stupid prophecy thing."  
  
"You mentioned Saph's Fire..."  
  
Ashstar paused for a moment. "That sounds familiar, now that I think about it. I mean, other then the prophecy. Where have I heard that..."  
  
"When Ella E...in the caves, with the Manachu...it said something about "Saph's Fire". I don't know what it meant. Do you?"  
  
"I have no clue. What I got from the prophecy is that it's something very destructive and very wrong. Let's see..." Ashstar tapped her chin with one finger. "It's hard to remember lines without doing the whole thing...um..." She looked upwards and then spoke slowly. "How long will this true evil lie hidden? was one line, I think. I've never actually tried to think about it before. I just know it warns against Saph's Fire for some reason."  
  
Monty looked at Ella E and sighed. She was still staring straight foreward with no apparent reaction to the outside world. "If she's not going to wake up soon, maybe we should try and figure it out. Maybe we can figure out what it means and why it made her pass out like that."  
  
Ashstar blinked, then smiled. "Never thought of that. Okay...let's see..."  
  
She began her sing-song chant again, this time speaking slower. Power passing through the ages ,Running quick through blood of vein, Shining in the intense rages, Tears, anger, darkness, pain..."  
  
Monty stopped her there. "So, let's start with that. Hmm...Saph's Fire I think is, from what I can see, passed on through family. And I think anger makes it come out, whatever it is."  
  
Ashstar looked down. "I don't remember much about what happened underground...I was unconscious most of the time...I remember a flash of red." Ashstar suddenly started, as if remembering something. "Oh! That reminds me..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I remember someone talking. I don't know who it was. It kind of sounded female, almost...kind of earthy, I think. It said 'Go, Guardian, and bring the Child to me.'..."  
  
"Child? What child?" Monty looked skeptical. As usual, his natural skepticism was not making this easy to believe, but he had little else to do in his situation.   
  
Ashstar tried to remember. "I got a picture in my head...I think she had brown hair...no wait...it was brownish-blond...with green-blue eyes..."  
  
"Ella E?"  
  
"No, it wasn't her. This one seemed frailer...not as...um..."  
  
"Not as what?"  
  
"Well, you know...'strong' as Ella E, I guess. Not physically, but-"  
  
"I know what you mean." Monty nodded. "Do you remember anything else about her?"  
  
"I think she was missing something. And she was very important. That's weird that I would remember this now." Ashstar looked at the ceiling of the cave, which was a totally useless physical movement, but it was a force of habit.  
  
"So whoever it was who talked to you wants that girl."  
  
"I guess. Maybe that's what Grandma was talking about all the time. She said that the Guardians had some kind of duty, or something, to someone...I can't remember the name right now." Ashstar laughed humourlessly again. "Grandma never made any sense..."  
  
"So what we do know..." Monty brought her back to reality. "is that Saph's Fire is inhereited and only appears when someone is angry."  
  
"That sounds right...Okay, let's move on...um...Beginning of the world created, Guardians with strength bestowed, Ebbing tides of crimson abated, Pulsing in an unknown code..."  
  
"They say Guardians! Do you think they mean what your grandma was talking about, Ashstar?" Monty said quickly. Ashstar seemed to recoil at the thought.  
  
"I don't think it's the same thing. Grandma was always talking about how wonderful the Guardians were and how they saved the world and all that stuff. I don't know if it's the same thing."  
  
Monty tried to gather the facts. "So Saph's Fire's been around since the beginning of the world...and it was given to a group called the Guardians...I don't know if the last lines mean anything..."  
  
Ella E groaned, interrupting their analysis of the prophetic chanting poem. The two were instantly at her side.  
  
"Ella E! What happened?"  
  
"Oooh, my head...where am I?"  
  
"The Unknown Dungeon...do you know who you are?" Ashstar asked urgently. Monty glared at her.  
  
"Of course I do!" Ella E said with a touch of her normal personality. "I'm Ella E, latest in the line of the Magister Mundi Sumus."  
  
"What was that last bit?" Monty looked at her strangely. Ella E blinked, shook her head, then looked confused.  
  
"What? Did I say something? What did I say?"  
  
Ashstar was deep in thought while Monty replied. "It means nothing, don't worry. Are you okay?"  
  
"I have a monster of a headache, but other then that, I'm fine. Where did everyone else go?" Ella E looked around momentarily. Monty shrugged.  
  
"They went off to look for Caleb. He got himself lost."  
  
"Ashstar!" Ella E seemed to notice the silver-haired girl for the first time. Ashstar payed no attention. She was deep in thought.  
  
"Magister mundi sumus...my grandma used to say that..." she mumbled to herself. Monty kept talking.  
  
"She was the captive that we rescued. Oh wait...you were unconscious...um...she was the girl who was singing."  
  
"Ashstar, what on earth are you doing here?" Ella E said with a touch of anger. Ashstar finally responded.  
  
"I was minding my own business when I was assaulted. It's not my fault."  
  
"Did you have anything to do with Caleb's dissapearance?" Ella E's voice took on a tone she often used when speaking with her sister. Ashstar looked almost sad.  
  
"No, I didn't. That was something that was entirely unexpected. Anyway, me and Monty were talking about the poem when you woke up."  
  
"I don't remember anything about it...just pictures..." Ella E said softly. Monty and Ashstar looked at her.   
  
"Pictures?" they said in unison.  
  
"Yeah...of battles and blood and red and...and lots of things..." Ella E held her head in her hands for a moment. "I don't remember any words...just a roaring noise and the pictures..."  
  
"Hopefully the others will be back soon, if they haven't run across...the two I did." Ashstar spoke with uncommon hatred at the mention of the two who had captured her. Both Monty and Ella E were surprised. Ella E tried to stand on her legs but could not support herself. It was the help of both Monty and Ashstar that kept her upwards.  
  
"Well, let's go find the others."  
  
"Find the others?" Monty asked incredously. "They're probably long gone now! There's no way we can find them now."  
  
"If Caleb is missing, I'm going to find him or help find him. And so are you two." Ella E's tone discouraged all arguement, and the two finally and reluctantly agreed to help. The Nyashock was used for their lightsource as they walked deeper into the caves.  
  
  
Chapter 22  
  
"Arrangement"  
  
  
Drak watched over Teishi while he slept. He wasn't sure whether or not he had fallen asleep himself occasionally during his watch, but if he had, Teishi had slept on. After what seemed like many hours, considering how hard it was to measure and define time in this featureless, cold, metal room, Teishi woke.  
  
"Where am I...?" Teishi lifted his head from Drak's lap and sat up slowly, blinking.  
  
"My room. You were asleep."  
  
"I was?" Teishi suddenly looked frightened. "Oh, I wasn't supposed to do that! Why'd you let me, sir?"   
  
Drak shrugged. "You were tired, I couldn't bear to wake you. You just collapsed from exhaustion. How long were you awake anyway?"  
  
"Only a few days..." Teishi seemed distraught. Drak blinked at this.  
  
"A few DAYS? No wonder you collapsed."  
  
"Oh, sir, they're going to be mad at me..."  
  
"They'll never find out. Besides, it was for your health anyway. Don't you feel better?"  
Teishi looked at himself, then at Drak.  
  
"Well, I guess so. Yes, sir."  
  
"Stop calling me sir." Drak said with a touch of anger that had come inbidden into his voice. He bit it back, then spoke again. "It's not like I'm your boss or anything."  
  
"In a way, sir..." Teishi kept his eyes focused on Drak's. "You own me. I have to do what you want. So..."  
  
Drak recoiled mentally at the thought of owning another human being, but tried to keep his face impassive.  
  
"Do you remember what we were talking about before?"  
  
"I think so..." Teishi tried to avoid saying "sir". "I have to find M-2 Specimen C and bring him here, right?"  
  
"Right. Call him Cyrus, okay? Can you do it?"  
  
"I...don't know where he is." Teishi put a hand behind his head. Drak tried to remember what Cyrus had said before.  
  
"It's like a hotel room, he said. With a bed and a sink and stuff."  
  
Teishi kept staring at Drak. "I know that...that's Block F."  
  
"Great!" Drak smiled. "You can find him now."  
  
"If I do find his cell...what do I do? How will he know that you sent me?"  
  
"Sing a song."   
  
Teishi paused for a moment, then understood. He nodded. "Sir..." The fear in Teishi's voice was so powerful that Drak forgave him the minor transgression of the use of the word again. "What if they catch me?"  
  
"They won't catch you. I promise."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Trust me."  
  
Teishi smiled at him. "I trust you, sir."  
  
"Good. Now go, we don't have much time." Drak could feel that the moments he had before whatever was going to happen would happen were slipping away, and this was making him tense. Teishi got off the bench and headed out, closing the door behind him.  
  
Drak was left alone. He leaned back against the wall, not sure of what to do. He didn't want to just sit here.  
  
He suddenly remembered that Cyrus had no idea what was going on. He should go and tell him. He crossed his legs and arms and thought.  
  
He closed his eyes and opened his psychic link, appearing again in the dark blackness he was so used to. He thought for a moment that he saw Mewtwo coming towards him, but knew it was only a illusion of his mind. It made him sad to think of Mewtwo, but he had more pressing problems now.  
He chose a random direction and floated that way, having no other idea how to find Cyrus. He was rewarded soon by the sight of stars and the fields and ponds he had created before. He was surprised that it was still here, considering that this seemed so against Cyrus' character.  
He looked for Cyrus and found him laying near the pond, laying on his back on a rock near the water that had not been included in Drak's original designs. His hair, or at least, the right side of it, which was the only part that was long enough, was drifting in the water lazily. His head was almost off the rock, so he was almost looking upside down. His hands drifted along side him as he seemed to be staring off into the distance.  
  
Drak walked up next to the rock slowly, wondering whether or not Cyrus would realize he was there or not. Cyrus was too intent in what he was doing, which apparently seemed to be nothing, then looking around him.  
  
"Cyrus, I-" Drak began.  
  
"HOLY #$*@!" Cyrus shouted, trying to stand but instead falling backwards into the pond with a large splash. Drak tried to hide his laughter behind his hand. Cyrus stood from the water, dripping wet, glaring at Drak angrily.  
  
"What the ^$*$ do you think yer doin', kid!? Don't sneak up on people like that! Christ..." Cyrus crawled back on the rock, muttering. Drak managed to control his laugher and sat next to him.  
  
"I didn't mean to. Do you always freak out when people say your name?"  
  
His reward for this was Cyrus pushing him into the pond. He gave a short cry and landed with a splash. Crawling back on the rock, he now glared at Cyrus, who was laughing. This was unusual, as Cyrus did not laugh much, if at all. It was a pleasant sound, compared to his harsh voice when he spoke.   
  
"That wasn't nice." Drak tried to be angry, but found he wasn't in the mood for it.  
  
"Weren't you saying something before you almost #$@#in' gave me a #$@#in' coronary, kid?" Cyrus still had laughter in his voice.  
  
"Oh...I've found a way to get you out."  
  
Cyrus stared at him with surprise. "Really."  
  
"Teishi is going to come and lead you to my cell, then I can take you out."  
  
Cyrus paused then laughed slightly. "Nice plan."  
  
"Well, why don't YOU make a better one?" Drak spoke with slight resentment. Cyrus lifted his hands.  
  
"Okay, okay. How will I know it's him, if he comes?"  
  
"He'll sing a song."  
  
Cyrus again stared at him with a look of doubt. Drak sighed.  
  
"Yes, a song. It's kind of slow and sad and it's in Japanese. You'll know it when you hear it. It ends with the word "gloria" in english."  
  
Cyrus continued staring at him. Drak was feeling uncomfortable, so he tried to change the subject.  
  
"Why is this still here?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"The scenery."  
  
Cyrus seemed slightly taken aback. "Oh...I was just lazy, so I didn't change it. I didn't feel like it."  
  
"Really." Drak smirked, using the same tone Cyrus had when he first responded to his plan. Cyrus looked at him with what could have been interpreted as indignation.  
  
"Yes #$@#in' really."  
  
"It wasn't because this was the only thing that calmed you down? Makes you feel safe?"  
  
"Don't push it, kid." Cyrus focused his eyes off to the distance. "I just didn't want to change it."  
  
"Didn't want to? I thought you didn't feel like it."  
  
Cyrus cursed slightly as he realized his mistake. He crossed his arms and turned away from Drak. Drak waited for a moment, wondering whether he would speak again, but Cyrus remained silent. He smirked.  
  
"Well, if you want me to leave..."  
  
Cyrus started slightly at this. "Fine. I thought it was nice, okay? I didn't want to #$@#in' change it."  
  
"You thought it was nice?" Drak felt pride at this. Cyrus humphed.  
  
"Whatever. Say kid, remember what you said before you left...?"  
  
Drak couldn't remember saying anything. "What?"  
  
"Y'know, about being human..."  
  
Drak suddenly remembered. "Oh. That was a joke, though."  
  
"Yeah...a joke..." Cyrus sighed. "It really is a joke, 'cause I'll never be human. 'M always what I am. M-2 Specimen C. A Lab Experiment." He had the strange emotionless voice that he always had when he spoke about his previous life. Drak regretted saying what he had before.  
  
"Your body doesn't make you human. Your mind and your feelings do."  
  
"Yeah, my mind is real human." Cyrus laughed humorlessly. Drak put his hands behind his back.  
  
"Well, what about your feelings?"  
  
"#$@#...they're human, I guess. I dunno..." Cyrus kept looking into the distance.  
  
"What do you feel right now?"  
  
Cyrus looked at him with some strange emotions that he couldn't identify. He opened his mouth to speak, and then someone in the physical world tapped Drak's arm.  
  
Drak didn't even spare the time to say goodbye to Cyrus, instead breaking the link instantly and turning to face whoever had touched him.  
  
"This...is...absolutely...amazing!" he heard the breathless voice near him. He groaned when he realized who it was.  
  
"Dr. Dowasure, what are you doing here?"  
  
"A psychic link of such power, and with such a unique color! I bet you were contacting M-2 Specimen C, right? Oh, this is fascinating! Links of this caliber have never been documented! What a great day for science!"  
  
"What are you doing in here!" Drak said with more force, hoping to break Dr. Dowasure out of his rambling. Dr. Dowasure seemed to remember where he was.  
  
"I came to check on you, and you were leaning back, eyes glowing, mouth moving...so much information! I sat and wrote down as much as I could. This is so important-"  
  
"Why'd you tap me?"  
  
"Oh, that was a accident. My foot twitched." Dr. Dowasure smiled brightly. Drak noticed the bandage that was wrapped around Dr. Dowasure's upper arm.  
  
"How's your arm?"  
  
"Why? What happened to it?" Dr. Dowasure looked genuinely confused. Drak buried his face in his hands.  
  
"You were SHOT THERE!"  
  
"I was?" Dr. Dowasure blinked, then nodded. "Oh yes, yes, I remember now. I was shot there. It hurt. Hmm...who bandaged it?"  
  
Drak knew there was some tension between Dr. Dowasure and Dr. Kagakusha, so he turned to the only other alternative he knew of.  
  
"Prof. Denka?"  
  
"Ah yes!" Dr. Dowasure snapped his fingers. "That was it. Let's see...I think I wrote down what he said to me during that..." he looked at his sleeve. To Drak, it seemed illedgible. He apparently found what he was looking for, however.  
  
"Here we go! Hmm...I'm irresponsible, foolish, and it was my fault for being there. Oh, I also wrote down who bandaged it. I guess I didn't notice it."  
  
"It wasn't your fault."  
  
Dr. Dowasure looked at him. "Huh?"  
  
"I talked with Cyrus about it, so I know what happened. It's not your fault."  
  
"With who?"  
  
Drak remembered that Dr. Dowasure only knew of Cyrus as M-2 Specimen C and that for once, it wasn't a fault of his memory.  
  
"M-2 Specimen C. I was talking to him, and he told me what happened. It wasn't your fault that you happened to be there when he was."  
  
"Really?" Dr. Dowasure seemed surprised by this. "You don't think so?"  
  
"I know so."  
  
Dr. Dowasure looked thoughtful.  
  
"Really? There's a new view on things. Hmm, how fascinating. Maybe it WASN'T my fault for once."  
  
"Is it always your fault?" Drak wondered whether he could get a clearer view of how Dr. Dowasure was treated. Dr. Dowasure turned his large brown eyes towards him and smiled again.  
  
"Usually. That's what they say, anyway. And I don't remember much, so it might have been." Dr. Dowasure laughed nervously and then paused. "Wait...what did M-2 Specimen C say?"  
  
"Nothing really..." Drak said carefully, trying to avoid revealing anything to the Doctor. He knew that Cyrus would hate him for saying anything. "He just told me about how he was created here, how old he was, what happened to him. Simple things like that."  
  
"I think..." Dr. Dowasure ran his eyes down a certain section of writing, accompanied with a small drawing of Cyrus, near his shoulder. Drak blinked as he noticed it. Unless you knew what you were looking for, all the writing seemed to blend into one mass of black on white. "He should be three by now. He is, right?"  
  
Drak nodded, then asked his own question. "Why doesn't he age?"  
  
Dr. Dowasure shrugged. "Unexpected side-effect of the cloning process, really. Actually, he DOES age in a way..." he looked at his sleeve again. "But his appearance doesn't change."  
  
Drak could understand that. "What was he like when he was younger?"  
  
"Um..." Dr. Dowasure looked at the ceiling. "I don't really remember...I bet Prof. Denka or Dr. Kagakusha has more complete records then me."  
  
Drak could see the innocence in Dr. Dowasure's eyes. He wondered if he really knew what happened to Cyrus.   
  
"What happened to Cyrus?"  
  
"Um..." Dr. Dowasure looked at his sleeve again. "According to this, I think he was put in suspended animation...or he was put to sleep peacefully. One or the other."  
  
"None really, since he's alive and moving around." Drak remembered how Cyrus had told him that they had taken him outside and tried to shoot him. That didn't sound like any of what Dr. Dowasure had written down.  
  
Dr. Dowasure looked thoughtful. "Hmmm...how very strange."  
  
Drak was now sure that Dr. Dowasure was not given all the information his colleagues had. No wonder he looked innocent.  
  
Dr. Dowasure turned his glittering eyes back to Drak. "So...where's Teishi?"  
  
With a start, Drak remembered that Teishi could bring Cyrus back any minute. If Dr. Dowasure was in the room, that could make things difficult. He stood up abruptly, startling the scientist.  
  
"Dr. Dowasure, could you leave me alone for a minute? I need to think."  
  
"Where's Teishi...? I thought they said he couldn't leave..." Dr. Dowasure looked thoughtful more then suspicious. Again Drak could sense the naivete around him.   
  
"I sent him to get me some blankets. Could you please go now?" Drak grabbed Dr. Dowasure's hand, which was warm and soft, and pulled him off the bench. Dr. Dowasure did not resist, apparently not even realizing that he was being pulled upwards. He began pushing him towards the door. Dr. Dowasure finally nodded.  
  
"Alright then, I'll come back later. You must be trying to establish another link with C, right? I'll leave you alone then..."  
  
"Holy $%^#!"  
  
"Aaa!"  
  
Cyrus collided bodily with Dr. Dowasure, knocking them both sprawling. Teishi hopped in quickly, looking terrified.  
  
"I brought him, sir, I swear I did what you said-"  
  
Drak was not sure what came over him, but he ducked under Teishi and shoved the door to the cell shut, locking it. He turned to find that Cyrus was feeling around his body desperatly for his gun while Dr. Dowasure was trying to get as far away from him as possible. Teishi had attached himself to Drak's arm, fearful of something unknown.  
  
Cyrus was directing every curse he knew, most in Pokémon, towards Dr. Dowasure. Dr. Dowasure was now inching towards Drak, not sure of anything else safer.  
  
"Cyrus, it's okay! Calm down!" Drak tried to pierce the hate that was clouding Cyrus' brain. Cyrus turned to him angrily, then realized who it was.  
  
"What the %&$% do you think your doin' bringin' the Doc here?" Cyrus asked him. Drak tried to soothe Cyrus by talking slowly and quietly.  
  
"It was an accident, I swear. I didn't think he would be here. I'm as surprised as you."  
  
"Can I leave now?" Dr. Dowasure had joined Teishi in hiding behind Drak. "I...have something to do, I'm sure..." he tried to door, but found it locked. He was too frightened to remember how to unlock it.  
  
"Listen, Cyrus, you have to calm down. You can't kill Dr. Dowasure...they'll find out for sure, then."  
  
"We can't let him go, kid. He'll #&#$in' rat on us, I know he will." Cyrus snarled. He barely managed to prevent himself from manifesting his psychic powers, remembering the shock that was in store if he tried. Dr. Dowasure was trembling behind Drak, trying to keep his glasses on his face.  
  
"We can't kill him."  
  
"We can't leave him."  
  
"Can we take him then, sir?"  
  
Drak and Cyrus both looked at Teishi, who seemed to regret speaking. "What?"  
  
"Sir, if you can't kill him or leave him, can't you take him?"  
  
"He'll still-"  
  
"It'll be too late by then, right sir? M-2...Cyrus should be far away by then, sir."  
  
"Yes, I vote for that." Dr. Dowasure said quickly. "Anything that doesn't involve me dying."  
  
"I still think we should kill the little #&#$er..." Cyrus glared at Dr. Dowasure, who gave a kind of squeak and hid further behind Drak.  
  
"I think Teishi's right. We really can't do anything else." Drak looked around sighing. He noticed that there seemed to be some kind of unspoken animousity between Teishi and Cyrus, although he didn't understand why. After all, Cyrus was one of the few people that Drak had ever heard Teishi interrupt.  
  
Cyrus crossed his arms and made a disgusted noise. "As long as it gets me out of here, I don't care. I never want to see this place again. We can go somewhere nice. You know, like that place you made up."  
  
"We?" Drak smirked again. Cyrus caught himself.  
  
"#&#$...I meant...wait, you aren't still thinkin' of stayin' here, are you?"  
  
"I told you, I have to stay. I have something I have to do."  
  
"You're a #&#$in' idiot if you stay here! It's a deathtrap! Soon as they're done with you, they'll kill you! You gotta leave, kid!"  
  
"I can't. I'm sorry."  
  
"Hey, Slave-Boy, help me out here." Cyrus looked at Teishi. Despite how frightening Cyrus' eyes must have appeared, Teishi kept direct eye contact. He didn't say anything.  
  
"Um...I don't think that's a correct view of this estab-"  
  
"Shut the #&#$ up!" Cyrus pointed at Dr. Dowasure. Dr. Dowasure did so. Drak crossed his arms and closed his eyes.  
  
"We'll get you out, Cyrus, and then after we deal with whatever-it-is, we'll come out too."  
  
"You don't even know what the #&#$ it is!" Cyrus gestured broadly. "It could be anythin'! Come with me!"  
  
"...no." Drak kept his eyes closed. Cyrus sighed.  
  
"If yer not goin', then I'm not goin'."  
  
"Don't be stupid. You're leaving."  
  
"Not without you, kid. I ain't leavin' you here."  
  
"...stop it, Cyrus. You're not making any sense. Dr. Dowasure..." Dr. Dowasure looked at Drak in confusion. "You'll have to come with us. You have to promise to be quiet or..." Drak glanced at Cyrus. "Or we'll let Cyrus get you."  
  
"If I DO keep quiet, I get to...um...live, right?" Dr. Dowasure looked at Cyrus with fear. Drak nodded.   
  
"You promise?"  
  
"Yes." Dr. Dowasure said quickly. Cyrus snorted again. Drak turned to Teishi.  
  
"Open the door."  
  
"Okay, sir." Teishi turned and entered the code and the door slid open. Slowly the four stepped out into the hall. Teishi pointed down one of the metal corridors.  
  
"This way, sir." 


	11. Michelle and Gabriella

Chapter 23  
  
"Tracery"  
  
  
"So...do you work for the PGRI?" Caleb asked hesitantly. He did not expect an answer and he was correct. The two girls kept walking steadily, never wavering, never varying their pace. It was eerie, as Caleb kept tripping over things in the dark, even with the assistance of the glowing rod. Everything seemed unreal, and things seemed to appear beneath his feet that had not been there before. The two girls odd behavior only added to this. Caleb was tired of having his questions ignored and not being payed any attention to. It was as if he wasn't there. This bothered him, as this reminded him of how useless he felt sometimes. Finally reaching some kind of breaking point, he put on a small burst of speed, catching up to the girls and grabbing one by the arm.  
  
"Hey, I asked you something." Caleb spoke with controlled frustration.  
  
The two girls immediately halted and stared at him with their strange, glittering eyes. Caleb instantly berated himself for his decision and waited with eyes closed for their wrath to descend upon him. When it did not come, he opened his eyes and looked at them again. They were still staring at him. Finally one spoke.  
  
"You may call it that, if you wish."  
  
"What do you do?" Caleb wondered how many questions would be answered. The girl on his right, the one he knew as Gabriella, grabbed his shoulder again.  
  
"You ask far too many questions, little one. Should we answer?" Gabriella looked at Michelle. Michelle nodded slowly.  
  
"We bring them what they want."  
  
"What's that?" The question escaped from Caleb before he even knew he asked it. Michelle stared at him for a moment before answering.  
  
"What they tell us to. If that does not satisfy your curiousity, we bring them trainers that get lost in the caverns."  
  
"What do they do with them?" Caleb shivered as horrific scenes from horror movies he had seen flashed across his mind. Michelle continued staring at him.  
  
"We just bring them. We do not know what they do with them."  
  
"Do you know anyone in the PGRI?"  
  
Michelle looked at Gabriella for a moment, then looked back at Caleb. "We know a few people."  
  
"Did you ever see a boy? Black hair, dark eyes..."  
  
"No."  
  
Caleb's hopes for Drak died for a moment at that simple word, but he forced them to raise from the dead for a few moments, trying not to believe the worst.  
  
"Who do you know, then?"  
  
"We know scientists."  
  
"Who are they?" Caleb wasn't sure why he kept asking questions that meant nothing to him, but he felt as long as he kept the words coming, everything kept becoming more real. Michelle eyes did not waver from Drak's.  
  
"There is Professor Denka and Doctor Kagakusha. They are the ones that come to take who we bring them."  
  
"What do they do?"  
  
Michelle just stared at him again until Caleb realized he had asked the same question he had before. He tried to think of another, knowing that this brief receptive period for the two girls would not last as long if he did not keep the questions going.  
  
"How did you find me?"  
  
Michelle paused and looked at Gabriella, who spoke instead of her companion for once.  
  
"We heard you."  
  
Caleb cursed himself for making any kind of noise, particularly falling down the rocky and rough incline. He was surprised at himself for a moment, then reasoned he must have learned the cursing from Colt.  
  
"Do you know where my friends are?"  
  
Michelle's eyes flashed to Gabriella's, and she released his shoulder. Without a word, the two began walking again. Caleb realized that he must have asked the wrong question and he regretted not asking any others when he had the chance. The fact that he could not think of anymore did not deter this thought in the least. He hurried after them, finding they had already gone far ahead.  
  
"How much longer do we have?"  
  
"You ask too many questions." Gabriella's harsh voice spoke from over her shoulder. Neither stopped walking. "That will get you killed someday."  
  
"How would you know?" Caleb meant his retort as more of a flippant remark, but the girls seemed to regard it seriously. They paused for a moment, allowing Caleb to catch up to them.  
  
"We have ways."  
  
Caleb stared at the two and found their faces set in the blank expression they both constantly wore. He began to wonder whether they were telling the truth and a shiver of fear ran down his back. Did that mean...  
  
"Are you going to kill me?"  
  
The two stared at him for a moment, then turned their eyes forward again.  
  
"No." they spoke simultaenously. Caleb looked in between them.  
  
"Then what did you mean? How would I die for asking too many questions?"  
  
The girls remained silent, and Caleb knew he had gotten all that he could out of them. Still, the strange apparent foresight of his death had scared him, and he tried to stay as close to the girls as he could, knowing there were worse things lurking in the dark that might bring the prophetic warning to truth too early.   
  
He continued walking, again finding his sense of time fading in the dark world. The girls never spoke and never looked back at him. The glowing rod gave sparse light, but it was at least a source of comfort. It was warm in his hand and the cold of the cavern was not merciful to his more tender extremities. The girls did not seem to notice...he was not sure what they were wearing, either. All he knew was how their faces looked, how their hands felt, and how their eyes glowed. He found himself wishing he was anywhere then in this dark place. He found his thoughts wandering to the Manachu, even finding some desire to go there instead of wandering around aimlessly. At least there there had been light. And other people who spoke and acted like people.  
  
Abruptly the two paused in front of what seemed to be a solid wall. Caleb was not aware of these and nearly ran into it, finding his wandering thoughts jarred back to reality. The two girls did not speak.  
  
"Are we here?" his voice sounded strange after such neglect. How long had he been walking along the caverns? It seemed like years. He did not know how long he had truly spent underneath the ground and walking with the two girls. He wished he had thought to bring a watch.  
  
Gabriella walked forward and placed her thin hand against a section of the wall and Caleb saw light stream through what seemed to be cracks in the wall. Slowly the wall moved outwards and slid to one side, revealing a cold metal hallway that was a stark contrast to the dark craggy caves he had been walking in for what felt like most of his life. The light hurt his eyes for a moment and he held his arm up in an effort to protect them.  
  
"Go in." Michelle's voice spoke near him, causing him to jump. He found himself seized with a sudden fear, as if entering the place would be the last thing he ever did, a irrevocable step forward towards something he could not face.  
  
"No!" his voice was strained with emotion, but the girls simply stared at him. Gabriella grabbed his right arm, Michelle his left, and they walked into the hallway. Caleb would have screamed, if his throut was working properly.  
  
On the cold tile he heard a scrabbling noise not unlike that of a bird. He was not sure where it came from, when finally his thoughts turned to the two next to him. He turned his face slowly towards the two. In the shine of pure light, he could see them clearly. Again his basic instinct told him to scream, but all vocal capabilities were over-rided by the powerful combination of fear, surprise, and amazement.  
  
Both the girls had thin, bone-like arms, seemingly absent of all flesh, save a thin covering of skin. This trend continued with their legs, which bent back like that of a animals. Their hands were each tipped with a claw, needle-like and sharp, the fingers long and thin, and where their ears should have been sprouted two small, almost delicate horns. From both of their backs spread large wings, the webbing inbetween the fingers splotched with white on grey as if some kind of plague had left some indelible markings upon it. They looked pale, as if near death, and their feet had the appearance of that of some kind of hunting bird, only covered with some kind of twisted combination of fur and feathers.  
  
"If you had co-operated, little one, we would not have to go through this trouble." Gabriella spoke with what seemed, for the first time, a touch of anger. He noticed that her mouth barely opened, and her voice seemed to enamanate from her chest, some kind of deep rumbling that felt as if it was coming from all around him. Caleb's mouth was open, uncomprehending of the sight that he was looking at on either side of him.  
  
"I don't see anyone to take him." Michelle looked around, her blood-red eyes scanning the room critically.  
  
"Let's leave him in the waiting room and leave this place."  
  
"What ARE you!?" Caleb gained his voice, which came with surprising strength. His words were a strangled shriek of mixed emotions.  
  
"We already told you." Michelle placed a hand against a panel on the wall. Another door slid open, this one revealing a cold, metal room, bereft of all furnishings except that of what seemed like a couch made of steel in one corner. The two lifted him easily and tossed him in, the breath knocked out of him as he hit the floor.  
  
"I wouldn't worry. They usually come by pretty quickly. Otherwise, you will be joined by your friends soon." Michelle's voice was the last that came to him as the metal door slid shut. Caleb, his mind finally grasping the situation, raced forward and threw himself at the door, but found that it was not going to yield to his small body.  
  
He stumbled over to the metallic couch, falling on it roughly. He tried to control his ragged breathing, as what he had just seen was debated, argued, and turned over in his brain.  
  
~~~  
  
"Caleb! CALEB!!" Indigo called out, distraught. In the short time she had spent with the group, she did feel some kind of connection between them all. She felt as if, in some way, this was almost her fault. She knew that this believe had no basis in fact, but that did not stop it's existence. Colt began cursing as he ran into another stalagmite.  
  
"We'll never find him this way..." Atelli sighed deeply. She looked at her Raichu, which was running back and forth, sniffing, and calling out "Raichurai! Raichurai!" over and over, as if calling Caleb's name. Autumnn noticed her gaze and smiled at her. This did not lighten her mood.  
  
"What should we do?" Kotake looked even more distraught then Indigo.  
  
"Maybe we should split up...?" Atelli suggested idly. The other shook their heads.  
  
"You're the only one with a light source. And then we'd ALL get lost."  
  
"Maybe we should go back and check on Ella E." Colt spoke with eagerness in his voice. Atelli knew that he was thinking of her even now and she sighed again.  
  
"I guess we should...we left Monty back there too. And Ashstar..." Kotake snorted at the mention of the girls name, but Atelli ignored her. "We need everyone we can to help us. Caleb could be anywhere."  
  
"How do we get back?" Kotake raised the question that had lied in the back of Atelli's brain unheard, which now rushed forth with a vengeance.  
  
"Uh..." she looked around, not finding any of the surroundings familiar in the least. Autumnn looked at her.  
  
"Anyone remember which way we came?" Colt scratched his head and turned in a slow circle, then shrugged. Indigo sighed and rubbed the top of her arms in the cold.  
  
"Maybe Autumn does. Autumn?"  
  
"Autumnn." Atelli corrected automatically. Autumnn lept to the top of the stalagmite that Colt had recently ran into and looked around. She sighed and sparked weakly.  
  
"Rai rai raichu, rai chu chu raichu."  
  
"Anyone have a Pokémon with a good sense of smell?" Atelli asked. The others shrugged, but Colt looked at the one Pokéball at his side.  
  
"Maybe Vulpix knows..."  
  
He tossed out the Pokéball, and his Vulpix strood out proudly, it's inner fire lighting up the caverns dimly. He turned to it.  
  
"Do you remember the way out?"  
  
Since the Vulpix had not been out during the trip, it had no idea. But it did have a nose, and it decided that was what it would have to use. It lowered it's delicate muzzle to the ground and sniffed a few times. The others watched in anticipation. It finally turned and made a barking cry to their right.  
  
"Vul!"  
  
"That must be the way! Come on!" Colt was happy that his Pokémon had been the one to save the day for once.  
  
"Wait a minute...where's Kotake?" Indigo looked around and the others paused.  
  
"Wasn't she right here...?" Atelli peered around her, but the only thing that greeted her gaze was the inky blackness. Colt looked surprised.  
  
"She couldn't have dissapeared that quickly...I hope she didn't fall down a cliff or something..."  
  
Autumnn let out a mighty burst of electricity that lit the cavern for a moment. They found the ceiling was higher up then they thought, but there was no sign of Kotake around them anywhere, the only other sign of life were the large Zubats on the ceiling. Atelli wanted Autumnn to turn down the voltage lest she wake the Zubats, and Autumnn nodded.  
  
"Oh...oh my god..." Indigo gasped suddenly, her hands going to her mouth. "Atelli...no, Colt, you must remember...you have to!"  
  
"Remember what?"  
  
"The murders!"  
  
Colt felt a tremor go through his body, but he quieted it. He spoke hesitantly. "There are no more murderers. Kame and Max are dead. We killed them. There's no way..."  
  
"But...how could she dissapear so fast...what if she was killed? We're so vulnerable here...they could pick us off so easily!"  
  
There was a sound of a drop splashing near them. They all started, frightened and afraid of the possibility of what happened to Ella E happening to them.   
  
"Autumnn..." Atelli's voice had a strange tone to it.  
  
The Raichu walked over to where the drop had landed. It was accompanied by the Vulpix. The others slowly joined the Pokémon. Some weak sparks from Autumnn and the light glow from the Vulpix soon illuminated the wet area on the cave stone floor.  
  
It was blood.  
  
"Oh my god..." Indigo looked as if she was going to be sick. Colt looked around, then suddenly went rigid with surprise.  
  
"Ella E! We left her alone!"  
  
"Colt!"   
  
It was too late. Colt had dashed off to where the Vulpix had pointed last. His Pokémon bounded after him. Atelli held out a hand towards him as Indigo moved closer to her.  
  
"We have to stay together!" She called after Colt.  
  
There was no response. Indigo whimpered.  
  
"Oh...he's gone...he's gone! Oh...oh! This is just like all those movies I saw! Oh, I never should have watched that! This has to be a dream, it has to be a dream, this can't be real..."  
  
"Shh." Atelli shushed the girl, listening hard. Autumnn had attached herself to her leg and was shivering, her weak light gone. "Don't think about stuff like that. That will only make it worse. We have to stay together..."  
  
"In movies the ones that always go alone are killed...oh, but they got Kotake! Oh, what if they get us from behind?!" Indigo then screamed and turned around, but there was nothing behind her. Atelli was frightened and turned it into anger.  
  
"Stop it! We just have to keep our heads. I heard from Ella E herself that Kame and Max are dead...and they're not even IN the unknown dungeon...they're under Mt. Moon..."  
  
They listened hard, and the only thing that greeted them was the terrifying silence. Indigo began whimpering uncontrollably.  
  
"I don't want to die, I don't want to die...they never kill two people at once...Don't even move a foot away from me! I wish Colt was here...I don't want to die..." Indigo burst into tears. Atelli herself was near tears. She found herself wishing that whatever was waiting for them would attack them and stop this horrible suspense.  
  
"Don't worry...we've got our Pokémon...we just have to stay together..."  
  
The sound of dripping increased, seemingly coming from all around them. Her voice continued without her conscious control and Atelli began breathing hard in fear as she saw what seemed to be two glowing lights, as if from eyes, coming through the darkness towards her.  
  
"We'll be okay if we stay together..."  
  
  
Chapter 24  
  
"Apprehension"  
  
  
"Are you sure this is the right way, Teishi? It feels like we're going further and further underground." Drak looked around. The hallways were getting colder and colder, or so it seemed to him, and the lights were dimming. Teishi looked at him.  
  
"Yes, sir." A glance from Drak reminded Teishi to try and control his habit. Teishi paused for a moment, then continued. "This is the fastest way to the outside."  
  
"I dunno...'M with th' kid on this. This don't feel like we're gettin' closer...." Cyrus was getting increasingly anxious, looking over his shoulder as if expecting something to jump out at him. Dr. Dowasure was walking on the opposite side of the hall as Cyrus, trying to bring as little attention to himself as possible. It was obvious to those in the party, however, that he was there, no matter how he tried to conceal himself.  
  
"I know the way around this place." Teishi said with a tinge of venom in his voice. It surprised Drak to hear Teishi speak out of his normal, passive tone. "This is the right way."  
  
"I think Teishi's right." Dr. Dowasure suddenly decided to speak. This earned him a glare from Cyrus.  
  
"No one cares what you think, Doc. Shut th' %^&$ up."  
  
Drak tried to think of why this seemed familiar, but couldn't recall anything. Shrugging, he decided it was a trick of his mind. Dr. Dowasure looked hurt.  
  
"Drak, you're with me, aren't you?" Dr. Dowasure turned his bright eyes towards him. Drak was uncomfortable under his gaze and kept his eyes towards the floor.  
  
"If Teishi says this is the right way, then all we can do is follow him."  
  
Cyrus made a scoffing noise, crossed his arms, and was silent. Drak continued walking. Finding the silence of voices disconcerting, he focused on the only other noise. The sound of footsteps. He could easily recognize Dr. Dowasure's shuffling footsteps, while Teishi's bare feet made almost no sound at all. Cyrus was silent, and a quick look from Drak confirmed the fact that Cyrus was not touching the ground at all. He seemed to be floating just off of it, but he kept moving as if he was walking. Drak delved into his mind to try and remember that, in the brief link he and Cyrus had shared, Cyrus had truly walked or kept the strange floating parody of walking. He could not remember, and this was another thing which he felt was unimportant and was stored away to be thought about later.  
  
"Does this place go underground?" he turned to the forgetful scientist. Dr. Dowasure had apparently been thinking of something else shortly after attention was taken off of him and snapped out of it quickly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Does this @#$%in' place go @#$%in' under th' @#$%in' ground, Doc?" Cyrus spoke with exaggerated slowness. Dr. Dowasure winced at the obscenities and then looked hurt.  
  
"Well, I think some passages do. I'm not sure. If I remember correctly-"  
  
"Which means from now on, he doesn't know what th' %^&$ he's talkin' about." Cyrus whispered to Drak, who couldn't help but smile. He quickly controlled it. Dr. Dowasure didn't notice the interruption.  
  
"Prof. Denka mentioned something about a underground passage...oh, I remembered it a second ago..."  
  
Cyrus laughed softly at this. Dr. Dowasure tried not to notice.  
  
"Um..." Dr. Dowasure reached behind his back and pulled his ponytail forward, where he began playing with it while he was thinking. "I think...I think..."  
  
"There's another thing you can't be too sure about." Cyrus spoke deliberatly loud enough so Dr. Dowasure could hear him. Dr. Dowasure again tried to ignore him, but failed. Drak could see that this had hurt him and began wishing that Cyrus would stop being so cruel to the scientist. Cyrus looked at Drak to see if he agreed with his statement and seemed disappointed to find that he did not. Cyrus turned away from him.  
  
"He said that...um...wait!" Dr. Dowasure pulled his sleeve out so he could see it clearly, then began looking over it. He finally paused on one section. "I think I wrote it down here...it says that Prof. Denka said that the underground passage led somewhere underneath the Underground Dungeon...wait, the Unknown Dungeon. Hmm, my writing's a little messy here..."  
  
"You can read that &#$%?" Cyrus looked over the doctor's shoulder, which caused Dr. Dowasure to start.  
  
"Most of the time, yes..."  
  
"Got anythin' on me there?"  
  
Drak was surprised to find that Cyrus was not making cruel remarks. Dr. Dowasure seemed surprised as well. He cautiously looked over his sleeve, finding the section about Cyrus. He seemed both nervous and suspicious, and Drak couldn't blame him.  
  
"A little...what they told me about you..."  
  
Cyrus grabbed Dr. Dowasure's arm and looked at the section. Dr. Dowasure closed his eyes and made a frightened noise, expecting some kind of further physical violence. Cyrus rolled his eyes.  
  
"Here we go...M-2 Specimen C...that's me." Cyrus laughed humorlessly. "Hmm...anti-social, violent, addiction to alcohol an' nicotine, has a accent...pretty good here, Doc."  
  
Dr. Dowasure was too frightened to reply. Drak was wondering whether he should stop this before it got out of hand, but he found another voice in his head reminding him that, for once, Cyrus and Dr. Dowasure were not fighting and that period should be prolonged as long as possible.  
  
"Hmm...M-2 Specimen C was...&#$%, you got bad writing, Doc. Was...found to be too...dangerous...'s that what it says? Has been put into...suspended...animation or...god, I can barely read this. Or...was put to...sleep." Cyrus finished then laughed again, scornfully. "You got most of it, Doc. Not all of it tho'."  
  
Dr. Dowasure gingerly opened his eyes. "What did I get wrong? I can't remember anything else..."  
  
"No surprise there." Cyrus rolled his eyes. "How about th' part where they took me out and tried to @#$%in' shoot me, Doc?"  
  
"Cyrus, he doesn't know about that. No one told him." Drak felt that he should stop this for some reason he did not know. Teishi was trying very hard to stay out of the whole affair.  
Cyrus crossed his arms. "Well, someone should've. Stupid @#$%er."  
  
"Shoot you? What are you talking about?"  
  
"Well, Doc, 'S pretty simple." Cyrus said with a cruelly sarcastic tone in his voice. "They dragged me outside and tried to @#$%IN' SHOOT ME!"  
  
"Cyrus..." Drak came between the two and pushed Cyrus away. He shot him a warning look and Cyrus seemed to debate as to whether to follow this warning or not, but in the end he did so, albeit sulkily. Drak turned to Dr. Dowasure.  
  
"It will take a while to explain, Dr. Dowasure. Try not to think about it. Meanwhile, try and ignore Cyrus. He's just angry."  
  
"Cyrus?" Dr. Dowasure looked confused, his memory again going blank on him.  
  
"Me, you @#$%in' moron." Cyrus mumbled to himself. "An' yer god%*$# right 'm angry! I have every god%*$# @#$%in' right to be!" Cyrus walked right up to Dr. Dowasure and jabbed him in the chest with his finger.  
  
"Cyrus, calm down." Drak pushed Cyrus away, trying to make his tone authoritative. Cyrus mumbled to himself again, but reluctantly backed away. Dr. Dowasure was rubbing his chest where Cyrus had touched him. "I know you hate him, but you won't have to be with him long."  
  
"Hate me? Why?" Dr. Dowasure blinked.  
  
Drak lept forward quickly and blocked Cyrus' furious charge towards the doctor, who gasped and ducked to one side.   
  
"Cyrus!"  
  
"You stupid mother-@#$%in' god%*$#ed son of a @#$%in' #$@%, I'll kill you-!" Cyrus reached out for Dr. Dowasure from around Drak, but could not reach him.  
  
"What did I say? What did I say?" Dr. Dowasure said frantically, trying to get as far away as possible.  
  
"Cyrus, he doesn't know! I don't think he did any of it! Don't blame him for it! He didn't hurt you!"  
  
"Oh, yes he @#$%in' did." Cyrus managed to calm down slightly. "He knew what I went through when I was growing. He did most of it, I know he did..." Cyrus narrowed his eyes at Dr. Dowasure.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Dr. Dowasure was very frightened now. "I don't understand-"  
  
"He means the experiments on him while he was maturing, Dr. Dowasure." Drak spoke carefully. "Like Mewtwo and what happened to him."  
  
"Mewtwo?"  
  
"M-2 Specimen B. He said that when he was created, the scientists did terrible things to him." Drak was still pushing against Cyrus to keep him from rushing forward and strangling Dr. Dowasure, who still didn't look like he understood.  
  
"I don't remember any experimentations during the growth cycle that would cause pain..."  
  
"'Cause you don't @#$%in' remember anythin', you god%*$# son of a #$@%&!" Cyrus was furious now, his anger finally venting itself. This was becoming dangerous, as his eyes were glowing slightly. Drak noticed this.  
  
"Cyrus, don't! You know what will happen!" Drak pointed downwards at the anklet that was still wrapped around Cyrus' ankle. Cyrus used the removal of Drak's hand to maneuver his way around the boy and towards Dr. Dowasure, who was backing away slowly.  
  
"I...I honestly...it isn't written down, is it? I can't remember..." Dr. Dowasure kept speaking, as if trying to find words that would placate Cyrus. Cyrus' eyes began glowing stronger.  
  
"Cyrus, stop! You'll set it off! Cyrus!" Drak cried desperatly, but Cyrus was beyond listening to him. Finding nothing else to do, Drak grabbed Cyrus from behind, not sure of how he could stop him. Some small voice in the back of his mind seemed to say "If you can't stop him, ease the pain.". He was not sure where this voice came from and what it meant, but he had run out of ideas.  
  
Touching Cyrus in his fury seemed to intensify it and Drak could see the glow flare from Cyrus' eyes and Dr. Dowasure jump back with a strange noise. He could hear a small beeping noise from the anklet.  
  
Sudden searing pain seared through his body, but through sheer willpower he managed to contain a scream.   
  
Trying to focus on anything other then the pain, he tried to figure out what was happening. Because he was touching Cyrus at the time that the sensor went off, the pain was going into him as well. He then logically deduced that the shock was getting divided between him and Cyrus, and the pain he was feeling was probably less then half of what Cyrus would have normally experienced.  
  
Eventually the pain eased and finally stopped.  
  
Both Cyrus and Drak slumped to the ground. Teishi was at Drak's side immediately.  
  
"Sir, are you okay? What happened?"  
  
"&#$%..." Cyrus tried to push himself upwards, but his muscles would not respond. He managed to turn his head towards Drak. His face had a look of utter amazement, something that Drak had not seen before. "&#$%, kid, what th' @#$% d'you think you were doin'?"  
  
"Are you okay?" Drak's voice was shaky. He had never truly experienced such sharp pain, excepting that below the earth in the battle with Max and Kame, and it had startled him. The memory of his previous pain seemed far away, even when his limp manifested itself, and the sudden reminder of it was frightening. He was breathing fast. Cyrus seemed both amazed and angry that Drak had asked the question.  
  
"What th' @#$%...I don't give a @#$% whether 'm okay or not! What th' @#$% is yer problem?! What are you tryin' ta do, kid, kill yerself? Christ...I can't believe you...get th' &#$% zapped out of you an' yer worrying over ME...god, kid..." Cyrus started out furious, but in the end looked almost relieved. He looked off to one side. "%*$# you, Yer so @#$%in' stupid..."  
  
Drak looked over at Dr. Dowasure and found he was writing the whole thing down on his sleeve, not to his surprise.   
  
"This is amazing...who would have thought the shock would be transferred? I'll have to tell Prof. Denka about this."  
  
Teishi placed a hand on Drak's shoulder.  
  
"Are you okay, sir? Can you stand? What happened?"  
  
"I'm okay..." Drak smiled weakly. "I think I can stand..." He pushed himself upwards. Considering that the pain had truly shocked Drak, his muscles were unused to such sudden pain and effort and his debilitating limp, Drak managed to stand by what seemed like almost a miracle. He tried to keep his balance once he had stood, but soon found his legs could not support him for long.  
  
He tottered and fell forward, anticipating hitting the floor.  
  
"&#$%!" he heard Cyrus speak near him, then felt his thin hands around him, stopping his descent. Unable to stand, he leaned on Cyrus, who had somehow found his balance rather quickly and had moved fast enough to catch him before he fell.  
  
"Sir! Don't exert yourself if you can't stand." Teishi looked worried. Dr. Dowasure was also near him, for once seeming concerned about Drak and not about what had happened.  
  
"Think you can walk, kid?" he heard Cyrus say from behind him. He was surprised to find that Cyrus could support him, considering his weak frame, but then he took into account that he himself wasn't built very sturdily.   
  
"I don't want to be any trouble...I'm not heavy, am I?"   
  
Cyrus laughed from behind him, a rare sound. "Nah, kid. 'S okay."  
  
"Hmmm..." Dr. Dowasure seemed to be trying very hard to remember something. "When...when you first came here...hmm..." he glanced at his sleeve as if looking for some kind of inspiration. "I think...we used one of the containment fields...and it had a effect like this...I think. Oh, I can't remember it...but you kind of reacted like this, I think."  
  
"How did you get rid of it? And why has C recovered so quickly?" Teishi asked the doctor. Drak could feel Cyrus tensing behind him at the mention of C.  
  
"I...I can't remember. I...I think C recovered because it's a M-2...therefore it...it was..." Dr. Dowasure began leaning on one foot, then the other. "...it was able...it was able to absorb the shock...I think. I hope that's right...I don't know..."  
  
"Yer more forgetful then usual, Doc. What's up?" Cyrus had a suspicious tone in his voice. Dr. Dowasure looked at him.  
  
"Um...I can't remember things when I'm stressed...at least, that's what I think it is."  
  
"Hmm...hey kid, yer more important to th' Doc then I thought." Cyrus laughed humorlessly behind him. Dr. Dowasure looked confused.  
  
"We shouldn't linger like this..." Drak looked around slowly. "We need to get out of the open..."  
  
"There's a door over there, sir..." Teishi pointed off to one side. "That way takes longer, but there's less chance of discovery."  
  
"Let's go that way, then." Drak tried to stand, but the limp had manifested strongly after a sharp reminder of the pain and his entire leg refused to move at all.  
  
"What th' %^&$'s wrong with yer leg?"  
  
"It's...it's a long story. Unh...it's really bad now. I don't know why..." Drak tried to get his leg to respond, but it was as if it wasn't there at all. He wondered whether a limp of this strength would affect Mewtwo badly, which brought to mind another train of thought. If Mewtwo couldn't contact him mentally, did that mean he was even connected at all? Did he feel his pain when he was shocked? Drak didn't know, but he hoped Mewtwo had been spared that.  
  
"I'll help you, sir." Teishi took one of Drak's arms and pulled him away from Cyrus, letting him lean on him. Although Drak was worried that the smaller boy would not be able to support him, he was wrong. Teishi was surprisingly strong. He glanced at Cyrus, who looked like he was about to say something, but then shrugged.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"If you get tired Teishi, I'll help." Dr. Dowasure said softly. Everyone turned to look at him.  
  
"Why would you help me?" Drak asked curiously.  
  
Dr. Dowasure noticed the eyes on him and looked nervous.  
  
"Why shouldn't I? It's not like I'm some monster that doesn't feel anything, you know."  
  
Dr. Dowasure tried to ignore the scornful laughter that came from Cyrus at that.   
  
"It doesn't matter to me." Drak tried to shrug, but found his shoulder also unresponsive. He wondered whether that was related to the limp as well.  
  
They walked towards the door and found that it was locked. It had a small pad near it that looked familiar. Drak could not place where it was from.  
  
"Oh, this is great. Just great. What do we do now?" Cyrus looked at the metal ceiling as if it could provide some kind of guidance.  
  
"If only I could remember the passwords...." Dr. Dowasure looked increasingly agitated at his own forgetfulness. This seemed only to aggravate Cyrus.  
  
"If only you could remember anything, you %*$# moron." Cyrus looked at Drak. "What about you, kid? This ring any bells?"  
  
"I don't know...it looks familiar...I don't know why..."  
  
"Hmm..." Cyrus walked closer and studied the pad. He then held up his hand near it and then nodded. "A ha..." he said softly. Dr. Dowasure walked over towards him.  
  
"What is it?" Dr. Dowasure insatiable curiousity had taken over him.  
  
Cyrus' hand flashed out and grabbed Dr. Dowasure's wrist. Before Drak could protest, Cyrus pressed Dr. Dowasure's hand roughly against the pad. The door swished open.  
  
"I was right...'s one of those hand thingys."  
  
"Ow..." Dr. Dowasure rubbed his wrist tenderly. Cyrus rolled his eyes at him.  
  
"Next time you could tell him before you do something like that." Drak was happy that the door was open, but the method of opening wasn't as pleasing.   
  
"Whatever. Let's go." Cyrus walked through the doorway, and soon the others followed him.  
The room seemed to be some kind of storage room that had been forgotten. Large boxes littered the room and a door was on the other end. The whole place had a atmosphere of neglect and age.  
  
"Through that door." Teishi moved forward. However, Dr. Dowasure stood frozen as if petrified. This eventually got the attention of everyone else.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Hide! You have to hide quickly!" Dr. Dowasure pushed Cyrus towards a pile of boxes. Cyrus was too surprised that Dr. Dowasure had touched him to retaliate properly. Dr. Dowasure ushered Teishi and Drak towards the boxes, where Cyrus stood as if demanding an explanation.  
  
"Why? What's going on?"  
  
"Prof. Denka is coming this way...you can't be seen with me! You have to hide! Let me deal with it! Hurry!"  
  
Teishi kneeled behind the boxes, setting Drak down carefully. Then Drak managed to reach up, grab Cyrus' shirt, and pull him down. Cyrus made a startled noise that he quickly tried to muffle when he heard the door swish open.  
  
"Dr. Dowasure, what are you doing in here?"  
  
Cyrus quickly pressed himself against the boxes, realizing what was going on. The three lay tense, wondering whether or not Dr. Dowasure would reveal them at last.  
  
"I'm sorry, I was looking for...um...for..."  
  
"Didn't you write it down? You know you'll forget if you don't write it down." Prof. Denka had a lecturing tone in his voice.  
  
"I...I didn't write it down...I forgot..."  
  
"I tell you over and over again to write it down, and you never listen! Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with you..."  
  
"I'm sorry..." Dr. Dowasure sounded genuinely apologetic. The three hidden among the boxes exchanged glances, but none could give a reason for Dr. Dowasure's strange behavior. "I would have written it down, but-"  
  
"And what's this?" Drak could hear some movement then a short gasp of dismay from Dr. Dowasure. Considering he was on the farthest side of the boxes, he was able to look out slightly from the side. Prof. Denka had grabbed Dr. Dowasure's wrist and was looking critically at the writing that was on the sleeve. "How old is this labcoat?"  
  
Dr. Dowasure looked at the floor, embarrassment on his face. "I...I don't know...I think...I think it's one of my old ones..."  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you! Labcoats are not meant for notes! If you want to write something down, write it on a piece of paper! Do you even use those papers in your pockets?"  
  
Dr. Dowasure seemed surprised for a moment, then looked down at his pockets, as if he did not remember they were there.  
  
"I'm disappointed." Prof. Denka shook his head at Dr. Dowasure, who seemed to crumple under this simple statement. "Just when I think you're mature enough to be a scientist, you always prove me wrong."  
  
"It's a habit, I swear. I can break it, just let me try..."  
  
"I've already let you try! You just never learn."  
  
"I'm really sorry..."  
  
"Look at yourself!" Prof. Denka had apparently decided on another area for criticizm. "Did you even try and brush your hair this morning?"  
  
Dr. Dowasure had to try very hard to remember. "Yes, I think I did..."  
  
"You're such a child. Honestly. I don't understand why anyone puts up with you. Messy hair, ruined clothes, clumsy, irresponsible, forgetful..."  
  
Drak felt some kind of anger running through him as he saw Dr. Dowasure was near tears. He didn't quite understand why this would hurt Dr. Dowasure so badly, but it made him angry. He also didn't understand why Prof. Denka was acting like this. It seemed very different then he had acted before.  
  
"I try, I really do. I swear I do. I'm sorry..." Dr. Dowasure spoke with a small voice. Prof. Denka just shook his head.  
  
"You're just hopeless. Until you remember what you were looking for because you forgot, you can just stay in here. Why do I even try? You'll never change." Prof. Denka began walking out. Dr. Dowasure walked after him.  
  
"I can change....just let me remember what I wanted in here..."  
  
"You'll never be a scientist until you grow up, Dr. Dowasure." Prof. Denka pressed his hand against the pad, the door swishing open. "And for the last time..." Prof. Denka grabbed his wrist again, jerking it sharply and causing Dr. Dowasure to gasp. "Stop writing on your clothes!"  
  
Prof. Denka left the room, the door swishing shut behind him. There were momentary sounds of beeping, then Prof. Denka's footsteps receding away. Dr. Dowasure was rubbing his hand and sniffing. Drak noticed something that glittered fall to the floor.  
  
Cyrus stood up, his hands on his hips.  
  
"What th' %*$#'s his problem?"   
  
Teishi carefully lifted Drak off the floor. They walked over to Dr. Dowasure, who was rubbing his eyes furiously.  
  
"Why was he acting like that? He never talked like that to me..." Drak looked at the door. Dr. Dowasure paused for a few moments, as if regaining his composure.  
  
"He's always like that with me..." Dr. Dowasure's voice was shaky, much like Drak's was after the shock. "Like I said before, It's always my fault...at least, I think I said that. Did I?"  
  
Drak nodded slowly. "Why didn't you tell him that we were here?"  
  
Dr. Dowasure paused, as if this had never struck him before.  
  
"&#$%, th' door's locked." Cyrus was looking at the pad. "Or at least, I think it is. Th' pad changed colors. Ah, it doesn't matter. We didn't need to go that way anyway."  
  
"I...I don't know..." Dr. Dowasure looked at the door. "Maybe I forgot."  
  
"You forgot." Drak looked skeptical. Cyrus walked over to them.   
  
"Wouldn't put it past th' forgetful moron."  
  
Dr. Dowasure looked hurt by this, and considering he was in a fragile state as it was, he shrank back from Cyrus and rubbed his eyes some more. Drak shot a glare at Cyrus, who shrugged. He turned back to Dr. Dowasure.  
  
"I don't think you forgot..." Drak studied Dr. Dowasure carefully. "Or maybe you do care more about us then you think."  
  
"I don't know..."  
  
"You don't know? Christ..." Cyrus shook his head then walked towards the door that was unlocked. Dr. Dowasure followed him with his eyes, now sad and frightened. Teishi followed him, and Dr. Dowasure was the last of all. He looked at his sleeve and sighed. 


	12. Farewell

Chapter 25  
  
"Misplacement"  
  
  
Atelli managed to stop her mouth from moving as the glowing lights came closer to her. The dripping noise slowed until it seemed like an eternity before another drop would fall. The dripping was the only way Atelli could tell the passage of time, something that had become increasingly important to her as she began to believe that hers was running out.  
  
Indigo had closed her eyes and was whimpering, refusing to look up. On Atelli's leg, Autumnn was doing the exact same thing. Only Atelli managed to keep her eyes open. In desperation for some kind of charm or some kind of way to keep whatever was coming for her away, she reached in her shirt and gripped her necklace, a small heart locket which held a picture of Zelgadis in it. She refused to let tears of fear fall, instead waiting for the glowing lights with dry eyes and a dry mouth.  
  
The lights halted a short distance away, the darkness making it so indistinct that she could not tell what it was. The lights seemed to rise suddenly, as if something was standing up.  
  
She heard a whump behind her, turning, she saw another pair of eyes. Atelli tried to scream, but only a frightened gasp escaped her throat. Something clawlike grabbed her wrist with terrifying strength, lifting her easily off the ground. She held on to her necklace doggedly, unable to let go.  
  
"Ah ha!" a male human voice broke through the strange, unearthly silence that had followed after the dripping had ceased. Atelli turned towards it, but found she couldn't identify it. The voice seemed to pause for a moment. "We need light!"  
  
"He let me take his Jolteon for this. Go!" A female voice spoke. There was a blinding flash as if that of a Pokéball opening, then the Jolteon bristled sharply and sparked, sending off a weak light.  
  
"Who are you?" Atelli asked. She didn't turn her head to look at her assailant because some inner feeling within her told her that it was probably best she didn't. She did, however, notice that both Autumnn and Indigo were being restrained as well. She could see the two people who had spoken, the flickering of electricity not providing much light. Both had hair about the same length, but the boy's was black and the girl's appeared to be light blond. They looked at eachother.  
  
"Even if he's waiting outside, we have to do it."  
  
"Right, they asked for it."  
  
The two stroke dramatic poses and began speaking.  
  
"If you want to know what's happening..." The girl began speaking first.  
  
"Listen up, people!" The boy pointed towards them. Atelli could finally see the R on his chest and sighed deeply.  
  
"To protect the universal annihilation!" The girl extended an arm.  
  
"To uphold the peace of all that is!" The boy held up his hands. Atelli noticed that his left arm seemed odd...  
  
"We carry out a message of adoration and admiration!" The girl crossed her arms and stood as straight as she could.  
  
"For we are the beautiful and modest Antagonists!" The boy likewise crossed his arms and leaned against her. He then jumped forward, extending a finger dramatically.  
  
"Reimia!"  
  
"Tashi!" Reimia was perfectly echoed by her. Reimia stepped back a bit and looked upwards.  
  
"We, Team Rocket, transverse the world and beyond and..."  
  
"A new way -- a new road is waiting for us!" Tashi extended an arm and moved it in a circle, as if marking something. Then they both raised their arms in the air and put them over one another.  
  
"Right!" They shouted at the same time.  
  
No one was impressed. Tashi looked at Reimia.  
  
"That feels weird without the right number of people."  
  
"Who cares." Reimia shrugged. He pointed with his right hand at Atelli. "Okay, you give us all your Pokémon! And tell us where Ella E is!"  
  
"What do you want with my sister?" Atelli, caught up in the incredible weirdness of what had just happened, forgot for the moment she was being held by something that seemed to have claws and had eyes that glowed.  
  
"Her sister?" Tashi looked surprised. Then she struck Reimia over the head. "I told you they weren't in here, stupid! You and your obsession with revenge-"  
  
"I saw them go in here! And it's not just about revenge!" Reimia turned to her angrily.  
  
"I hate to interrupt..." Indigo managed to break into the argument. The two looked at her, surprised. "But maybe you could HELP US!"  
  
"Thunders, more light!" Reimia called out. The Jolteon oblidged willingly. Finally, the assailants were fully visible.  
  
"I guess they're just another two we have to bring in." Michelle turned towards Gabriella, who held both Autumnn and Indigo with no effort. Atelli could finally see what was holding her clearly and promptly passed out.  
  
Tashi screamed piercingly. Reimia took a step back. Tashi was about to run, but instead tripped over a stalagmite. She watched with horror as the two monstrosities came towards her, then shrieked loud enough to wake the dead :   
  
"WHY DO WE ALWAYS RUN INTO THE EMBODIMENTS OF EVIL!?!"  
  
~~~  
  
Nick had been waiting outside. As it was, he was uncomfortable with chasing after his own cousin. He was also embarrassed of being a Rocket, even if it was only part of a dare. So he claimed that he would watch the entrance in case any of them tried to sneak out. In reality he was sitting and playing Pokémon: The Collecting with his Blastoise, Connor. Although among the two they referred to it as AW, which was it's most popular name. It stood for "Allowance Waster".  
  
"Connor, how do you get such good hands?!" Nick was frustrated that his Blastoise was beating him yet again. The Blastoise shrugged and took what had been the ante, which, since all the cards belonged to Nick anyway, was a candybar Nick had been saving. "It's like you're cheating or something!"  
  
Connor shrugged innocently.  
  
A piercing scream broke the atmosphere of the game. Connor rushed upwards, and Nick quickly shoved the cards into his bag.   
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Blas blastoise..."  
  
"You think it was Tashi? I don't know...why would she scream? Do you think she's in trouble?"  
  
Connor rolled his eyes. "Blastoise."  
  
"Fine, no need to get mean." Nick walked towards the entrance, then backed away. He shivered. "And they borrowed Thunders too...how will I get light?"  
  
Connor shrugged.  
  
"Well, I guess we have to go. They are our partners, right? Come on, Connor."  
  
Nick walked into the dark caves, followed by his Blastoise.  
  
He hadn't gone more then a few steps before something struck him, knocking him unconcious instantly. Connor suffered an equal fate.  
  
Michelle leaned down and picked up the small boy easily. "Why do you think we're getting so many trainers now?"  
  
Gabriella shrugged non-commitally. She searched through Nick's bag, grabbed a Pokéball, and returned the massive Blastoise.   
  
"I hope we get something for this...I can't believe you cut yourself." Michelle looked at Gabriella emotionlessly. Gabriella's hand, if that is the proper term, had a large cut spanning it, which was bleeding profusely. Gabriella didn't seem to notice. She didn't make a comment.  
  
"I think that was going to an extreme to scare them." Michelle continued her previous statement.  
  
"They didn't resist." Gabriella finally spoke. She leaped off of the edge of a narrow cliff, one that Caleb had fallen off of so long ago, and spread her wings. She coasted slowly through the cold, frigid air of the caves. Michelle was soon beside her, holding the unconcious Nick easily by one hand.  
  
"Did you lose much blood?" Michelle's voice was always entirely emotionless. Gabriella shook her head slowly.  
  
"Just circled and let it fall for a while." Gabriella then seemed to refuse to speak further. Michelle decided not to press the issue. She looked down at Nick.  
  
"I hope no more come...this is getting tiresome."  
  
~~~  
  
Caleb was sitting and debating in his head what had happened for quite some time. As soon as the two had gone out of sight, he could not believe what happened. He knew that it did, he remembered it, but he just simply could not believe it happened. Although he had seen the Manachu and the various other things that supposedly didn't exist, there was something about Gabriella and Michelle that made them seem...unreal. As if they were not supposed to and did not really exist. He knew they did...they threw him in here. But his mind didn't seem to be able to reconcile this fact.  
  
The door to the room slid open, startling Caleb out of his reverie. He barely had time to react before someone was thrown into the room and the door was shut. He got up from the metallic couch, walking cautiously towards them. As soon as he was able to see clearly, he groaned.  
  
"It figures."  
  
"Ow...my head. What WERE those things...?" Colt sat up and held his head with one hand. He then noticed Caleb and seemed almost to snarl. "And what are YOU doing here? Didn't you know we were looking for you?"  
  
"You were?" Although Caleb had expected this, he had not expected that Colt would have joined in. It gave him a sense of importance.  
  
"Against my will." Colt stood up, brushing himself off. Caleb scolded himself mentally for ever thinking that Colt would do anything beneficial towards him in any way. "Have you seen Ella E?"  
  
"Wasn't she with you?"  
  
"No...I left her with Monty and Ashstar...I haven't seen them since...last thing I remember was someone hitting me over the head with something..." Colt rubbed his neck, as if to prove his point. Caleb noticed an angry bruise before it was covered by Colt's hand. "Who or what WERE those things?"  
  
"They're names are Gabriella and Michelle...other then that, I know as much as you."  
  
"Hmmm...I don't suppose you've seen Drak around anywhere, have you?" Colt looked around the blank room while Caleb looked skeptical.  
  
"I didn't have much of a chance." Caleb said hatefully, his distaste for Colt rising strongly. Colt noticed this instantly.  
  
"He has to be here somewhere...well, I'm sure I can find him."  
  
"What makes you think YOU could find him? We're BOTH locked in here."  
  
"As much as I hate it. Of all the luck..." Colt cursed under his breath. "Why in the world was I stuck here with YOU?"  
  
"Look, let's just make this simple, okay?" Caleb fished around in his pocket and eventually found a pencil. Shrugging, he leaned down and tried to draw a line on the metal, but this proved ineffective. Trying a different tactic, he flipped the pencil over to leave a light trail of pink rubber fragments. After finishing, he stood and brushed off his hands. "Okay, this side is mine and that side is yours. Let's agree not to trespass on eachother's sides."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Caleb held out a hand distastefully. "We have to shake on it to make it official."  
  
Colt seemed to regard Caleb's hand as a dead thing, then suddenly smiled as if realizing something. He gripped Caleb's hand and squeezed viciously, shaking Caleb's arm up and down vigorously.  
  
"Fine."  
  
Caleb wished he was strong enough to resist, but couldn't break free. Finally, when Colt let go, Caleb backed off to the couch, which happened to be on his side. He sat down and rubbed his hand.  
  
Colt, pleased with his work, went to the corner of the strange room and waited. He crossed his arms, stared fixedly at one spot on the floor, and didn't move.  
  
After a while, this kind of began to creep Caleb out. He had never seen Colt being so quiet before. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm just daydreaming." Colt spoke without taking his eyes off the designated spot. Caleb rolled his eyes.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
This continued on in silence for sometime until the door slid open and two more figures were tossed in, landing directly on the line and smudging it. Before Colt and Caleb could protest this, the door slammed shut and there was silence. The boy had landed first and the girl had landed roughly on top of him, rolling off quickly and shaking her head.  
  
"What hit me..." the girl moaned. She looked around. "And where am I?"  
  
"Welcome to the party." Colt smirked. "Hey Monty, where's Ella E?"  
  
"Ella E?" Monty blinked, then looked around, worried. "You mean she isn't here with you?"  
  
"We left her with you and Ashstar! What happened to her?" Colt was beginning to sound more serious. Monty shrugged helplessly.  
  
"I don't know where she could have gone. For all I know, she was captured along with us."  
  
"It was them." Ashstar hissed the word 'them' with obvious contempt. "They got us when we were unprepared."  
  
"Do you know them?" Caleb looked at Ashstar with interest. The silver-haired girl shrugged, confused.  
  
"Only from what they did to me at first. But I hate them already. I don't understand why...it's some kind of feeling I can't explain."  
  
"I think I know what kind of hatred your talking about." Monty leaned back on the wall, already getting relaxed. "There are two in our merry band that are victims of that hatred themselves. Isn't that right, Colt? Caleb?"  
  
The two refused to look at Monty or eachother, but the two eventually nodded. Ashstar pressed her forehead against the metal wall, only realizing that it stung horribly. When she drew back, she noticed a small red stain left behind. She touched her forehead, feeling a small gash.  
  
"They weren't too gentle with me. Anyone else here bleeding?"  
  
The others gave themselves a quick examination, but all the reports proved negative. Ashstar looked thoughtful.  
  
"I think they hate me as much as I hate them...that would explain why you aren't hurt, but I am...I don't understand where this feeling comes from though..."  
  
"I wonder what Drak is doing...and the Mewtwo, for that matter." Caleb was more talking to himself then to any person in particular. "Ever since we entered the cave, it just dissapeared. I don't know where it went..."  
  
"You're right..." Colt looked thoughtful as well. "I don't remember even seeing the Mewtwo after we got in. It must of gone somewhere."  
  
"No doubt it remembers the place where it and Drak grew up. Maybe it wanted to visit there again." Ashstar remarked. The others looked at her.  
  
"How do you know about this?"  
  
"I pick up things from conversations, things like that. I'm more observant then I look." Ashstar smiled secretively to herself. Monty looked at the ceiling.  
  
"I hope those two girls don't hurt anyone else."  
  
"Two GIRLS?" Colt sat up straight and looked at him. "GIRLS? I don't think they were girls, Monty."  
  
"What else could they be?" Monty shrugged, his eyes half-closed. Colt struck his forehead with his palm.  
  
"I don't know what they were, but they weren't girls, that's for sure. Well, in the human sense, anyway..."  
  
"They said they were "The Fallen", or something..." Caleb said softly. Colt glared at him.  
  
"Why didn't you mention that before?!"  
  
"I forgot, okay!?" In truth, Caleb just didn't want to talk to Colt more then was necessary, so had told him that he knew nothing. "I don't know what they meant by it..."  
  
"The Fallen...I think my grandma talked about that..." Ashstar put a hand to her lips, biting her knuckle. "I can't quite remember though..."  
  
"Whatever the heck the are, I hope they don't hurt anymore of us. Think any of us escaped?"  
  
As if in answer to this question, the door slid open again. Atelli was the first to come in this time, landing directly on Monty and knocking him halfway across the room. Then after that came a Raichu and Indigo, who luckily didn't run into anyone.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Atelli helped Monty up and brushed him off. "I didn't know we'd be in here so fast..."  
  
"Don't worry about it." Monty smiled. "We were all shoved in here."  
  
"Thank god...I thought they were going to kill us!" Indigo looked terrified. Autumnn had again attached itself firmly to Atelli and was not going to let go anytime soon. "I was terrified...I thought they killed you, Colt, and were letting your blood drip from the ceiling or something..."  
  
"That reminds me, what happened to Kotake?" Atelli looked thoughtful.  
  
The door slid open this time, and two more figures were tossed roughly in. They landed on top of eachother then immediately began fighting.  
  
"Get off me, you moron!"  
  
"Don't punch me!"  
  
"OW! Don't use that arm! That's cheating!"  
  
Reimia pushed Tashi off of him roughly. Tashi glared at him.  
  
"What are you two doing here?" Colt's voice was dangerously low and subdued. The two looked over and seemed to notice him for the first time. Reimia lept up.  
  
"This is all your fault, Colt!" Reimia held up his left arm, pointing at it with his flesh hand. "You took my hand away from me!"  
  
"How was that MY fault?" Colt still had the impassive tone he had used before. "I had nothing to do with that. It was the Manachu, remember?"  
  
"Oh...my Scyther..." Tashi began to weep. Reimia glared at Colt.  
  
"Nice going." He hissed at him.  
  
"What did I do now?" Colt looked around innocently.  
  
"Just remind Tashi of one of the most devastating losses in her life!" Reimia was edging closer to Colt, but an interruption from Indigo stopped him.  
  
"Excuse me, before you go beat on someone, could you tell me who you are?"  
  
The two immediately lept back and posed.  
  
"WITHOUT THE RHYME!" Indigo shouted with uncharecteristic energy. The two reluctantly sighed.  
  
"I'm Reimia." The boy said.  
  
"Tashi." The girl looked at Indigo with suspicion. "We're members of Team Rocket."  
  
Monty waved a hand airily. "Really? I wouldn't think so from those clothes."  
  
Atelli giggled at this while Reimia glared at him.  
  
"Team Rocket?" Indigo looked surprised. "Is that why you wanted our Pokémon?"  
  
"Of course." Tashi smiled. "Why else would we want them?"  
  
"Hey Colt..." Caleb spoke from the couch he was currently monopolizing. "Why don't you tell Indigo your whole sordid past with Team Rocket and those two over there?"  
  
"You were a member of Team Rocket?!" Indigo looked shocked. Colt shrugged.  
  
"I was. Not anymore."  
  
"That's because you stole from the theives." Reimia sat down, trying to control his temper. It was an amazing feat.  
  
"Stealing from Team Rocket..." Tashi shook her head. "Really."  
  
"It wasn't stealing." Colt spoke defensively. "I just took what was really mine."  
  
"That Growlithe belonged to Team Rocket the minute your Pokéball touched it."  
  
"Well, you can take it up with Ella E, because it belongs to her now." Colt looked off to one side. Reimia and Tashi both looked at him strangely.  
  
"What, you gave it to her?" Tashi asked. Colt began blushing and nodded. Tashi giggled at this. "Ooo, Colt's in loooove..." she sang in her annoying way. Reimia began laughing while Colt blushed harder.  
  
"Name someone here who isn't in love with her." Atelli said sulkily. "For the life of me, I'll never understand why."   
  
Indigo shrugged. "Hmmm...weren't there some more of us?"  
  
The door slid open again, and only one person was thrown in this time. She landed roughly, moaning.  
  
"There you are, Kotake." Atelli smiled. "What happened to you?"  
  
"I...I don't know." Kotake rubbed her head. "I think...I think something grabbed me from behind...I don't remember much after that..."  
  
"Welcome to the club." Monty was again leaning against the wall, looking relaxed. Ashstar glared at Kotake angrily, which was soon returned. The two were about to begin arguing when Atelli broke them apart.  
  
"We can't fight now...it won't do anything."  
  
"Like it did anything before." Monty remarked off-hand. Atelli smiled, but didn't look at him.   
Reimia and Tashi were obviously not obeying this admonishment.  
  
"Colt, this is all your fault. You ruined my life!"  
  
"I did not ruin your life." Colt didn't even look at the two.  
  
"Yes you did! And you killed my Scyther!" Tashi began crying again at this. Colt rolled his eyes.  
  
"I didn't kill your Scyther, either. It was the Manachu, okay? The Manachu did both of those things. And if I remember correctly, you both helped me underground during the battle." Colt finally looked at the two, who looked both surprised and uncomfortable.  
  
"Help you? I don't remember doing that."  
  
"Neither do I." Tashi shook her head emphatically. Monty waved a hand.  
  
"I do. I saw you guys...You smacked Max in the back with your hand, Reimia, and Tashi, you tried to jump him from behind."   
  
It was obvious that Reimia and Tashi remembered by the expressions on their faces, but they weren't about to admit it.  
  
"Um...I don't remember that at all..."  
  
"You're such horrible liars." Colt smirked. "You always were, you know."  
  
"I guess we didn't have your experience." Tashi said, then seemed surprised at her own cleverness. Colt glared at her while Caleb clapped in the background slowly.  
  
"Either way, there's still two more of our group missing..." Atelli had been counting on her fingers. "Ella E and the Mewtwo."  
  
"Do you think the Mewtwo could have fought those two?" Caleb broke off of smirking at Colt to look at Atelli. Colt had crossed his arms and was refusing to look at anyone. Ashstar shook her head.  
  
"He couldn't have. They...they're not able to be harmed that way..."  
  
"How would YOU know?" Caleb looked at her suspiciously. Ashstar shrugged.  
  
"I don't know, really. I just know that they wouldn't..."  
  
"Curiouser and curiouser..." Monty smiled to himself.   
  
The door slid open and instantly all eyes were upon it. A small brown haired boy was tossed in, then it slid shut once again.  
  
Reimia and Tashi were instantly at his side. "You okay?"  
  
"I thought you wouldn't get caught. Did you try and follow us?"  
  
"I'm sorry..." Nick said softly, rubbing his head. "I didn't...I thought you were in trouble. I heard Tashi scream..."  
  
"NICK!?" Atelli jumped upwards. Nick started, then turned slowly towards her.   
  
"Um...Hi, Atelli." He said nervously. Atelli had a disbelieving look on her face.  
  
"Nick, what are you doing with those two Rockets? Don't tell me..." Atelli noticed that R on his chest and sighed deeply. "Oh Nick, does Sedona know about this?"  
  
"No!" Nick looked frightened. "N...no, I haven't seen her ever since she left home. She doesn't have to know, anyway."  
  
"Do you know him?" Indigo asked curiously. Atelli put a hand to her forehead.  
  
"Know him? Nick's my cousin."  
  
"Woah, woah, woah..." Ashstar held up her hands. "This is gettig to confusing. Okay, first things first, how many cousins do you HAVE, Atelli?"  
  
"Not that many." Atelli looked offended. "There's Radic, Nick, and Sedona."  
  
"And Ella E's your sister..." Monty added from off side.  
  
"And who's Sedona?"  
  
"Nick's sister."  
  
"So let's see...in this whole family we have..." Ashstar counted off on her fingers. "Radic, the world famous loser, Ella E, the growlithe-obsessee, Atelli, her sister with the rampant mood-swings, Nick, the Team Rocket-"  
  
"I didn't mean to be!" Nick broke into her list. He realized Reimia and Tashi staring at him. "...caught here." he finished half-heartedly. Atelli looked at him oddly. Ashstar looked at Atelli.  
  
"What's Sedona like?"  
  
"Um...well, I can't really think of a outstanding personality trait right now..."  
  
"She's annoying." Nick said sulkily. Ashstar rolled her eyes.  
  
"There don't seem to be very good sibling relationships in this family...anyway, think we'll meet up with her? What's she look like?"  
  
"Well, she has blondish hair...there's kind of tinges of brown in it...and she's got green-blue eyes...well, actually they're more green-brown, but sometimes they look green-blue or people think they are. That's because she looks like Ella E, but she's thinner."  
  
"She sounds familiar..." Ashstar was thinking hard. Caleb shrugged, leaning back on the couch.  
  
"Well, no use for that. She couldn't help us even if she knew we were here."  
  
"How do we get out of here, anyway?" Colt stood and pushed against the door, but it was shut tight. He sighed. "This is the only way out..."  
  
"And what happened to the Mewtwo and Ella E?" Monty mused aloud. No one had an answer for this and the door remained stubbornly shut, providing them with little comfort or hope for the fact that Ella E would join them.  
  
~~~  
  
"My son! My son! Wake up! Please, wake up!" Eclipse flew around her son's body, distraught. Tears were flowing from her eyes. She pressed her paws to the long cut on the Mewtwo's forehead, trying to stop the blood from flowing. "Please, please! Don't leave me here alone! You have to be strong...wake up! Please wake up!"  
  
Eclipse kept trying to stifle the bloodflow, berating herself. "Why didn't I help you? When those horrible things flew towards you, I ran! Why didn't I stay to help you? Why didn't I stay? Please...don't die on me. I promise from now on that I'll help you. Just live, my son! Live! Please!"  
  
She summoned energy that was rising within her and pushed it against the wound, noticing some of it healing. She decided that it must be some kind of manuever of hers and kept trying.   
  
"Live...live...please, live. I'm so sorry...I promise this will never happen again. We can find Drak by ourselves...just stay alive for me..."  
  
Exhausted, she fell across the Mewtwo's face, weeping. Her tears fell on the Mewtwo's face, running down it's smooth skin. Slowly, it's eyes opened.  
  
"Mother..." it groaned. "What happened..."  
  
Eclipse stared at it in joy.  
  
"You were attacked. Don't worry, I'll protect you from now on. They probably don't think you're alive...you have to recover your strength so we can go and rescue your friends..."  
  
"They were captured...?" The Mewtwo blinked, confused, then closed its eyes. Eclipse sat on its shoulder, watching carefully.  
  
"Yes, but don't worry. We can save them."  
  
~~~  
  
Although it had been easy to knock Ella E unconcious, there had been an argument over who wanted to touch her. Both Gabriella and Michelle felt uncomfortable touching the girl for some reason. In the end, they finally decided to take the others to the lab first, then go back and pick up the girl.  
  
The job finally landed to Gabriella, who held Ella E out at arms length as if she were something that smelled horrible. They were walking through the hallways of the laboratory when a voice stopped them.  
  
"What do you have there?"  
  
The two turned towards the woman silently. Michelle was the first to speak.  
  
"We have brought many trainers, Doctor Kagakusha. This is the last."  
  
"Do you know her name?" Dr. Kagakusha looked at the girl critically.  
  
"She was referred to as Ella E."  
  
"Hmm..." Dr. Kagakusha seemed to think for a moment, then smiled. "Come with me. I think she may be useful."  
  
"What about the others?" Michelle gestured towards the door at the end of the hallway. Dr. Kagakusha began walking off.  
  
"We can get them later. Come on."  
  
Michelle looked at Gabriella, whose expression didn't change. The two eventually followed the Doctor, casting little to no shadows on the brightly lit hallway floors.  
  
  
Chapter 26  
  
"Abandonment"  
  
  
Drak was walking behind Dr. Dowasure and Cyrus, studying how they constantly fought. He noticed that Dr. Dowasure rarely said anything cruel to Cyrus at all, only defending himself ineffectively. In contrast, Cyrus was incredibly cruel when he had a mind to be, and Drak was considering stopping their latest argument, which was getting personal.  
  
"Really, Doc, yer th' most-" Cyrus was half-way in his sentence when Drak suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Something was wrong.  
  
"Sir!" Teishi was looking at him with alarm. Drak raised a hand gingerly to his face and felt what seemed like a drop of blood flowing down it. Confused, he traced it upwards, finding it's source. A large cut that spanned his entire forehead. He vaguely noticed Dr. Dowasure and Cyrus turning towards him.  
  
"#%&$!" Cyrus was near him in an instant. "#%&$, kid, what th' %*$# happened?!"  
  
"I...Mewtwo...I think it was..." Drak was feeling woozy. It seemed as if his vision was getting red. He could feel his legs giving way, but felt someone supporting him. He closed his eyes, trying to stop the pain that was coming at him. He hadn't noticed at first, but now he could feel it lingering just outside of his realm of consciousness...he knew that fuller, sharper pain would follow the dull one he was experiencing directly at that moment and this filled him with dread. He felt himself leaning against the wall. he opened his eyes and found Dr. Dowasure's staring into them.  
  
"No, this isn't caused by one his fainting spells...no key words have been said, I think. This is probably a result of...um...what was it..." Dr. Dowasure looked thoughtful. Or at least, that's how it seemed to Drak. Everything was getting fuzzy, as if he had just woken up or was about to go to sleep. "The link between him and M-2 Specimen B."  
  
"How th' %*$# do we fix it?" Cyrus seemed irritable. Dr. Dowasure looked more nervous.  
  
"I don't know...we can't stop the link..."  
  
"We can stop the bleeding." He heard Teishi's soft voice off to one side. He could hear a ripping noise then felt something being pressed to his forehead. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt kind of rough. It also stung. He made a soft noise.  
  
"What th' %*$# do you think yer doin'!? Yer hurtin' him!"  
  
"This will stop the bleeding." Teishi's voice again had a tinge of anger in it. He heard Cyrus make a scoffing noise, but the stinging did not cease. He wondered what it was that was pressed to his forehead. He tried to connect the sounds he had heard to what was happening and decided that Teishi had ripped something, probably his shirt, and was pressing that to his head. He wished he could thank him for his efforts, but at the moment he couldn't do much of anything.  
  
"Let's see..." he could hear Dr. Dowasure digging through his pockets. "This should help."  
  
"What th' %*$#...why didn't you SAY you had bandages, Doc?"  
  
"I forgot."  
  
"Like that's a big $#@&in' surprise. How much #%&$ you got in those pockets anyway?"  
  
"Anything I think I'll need. Hold still, Drak. Teishi, move your hand for a minute."  
  
The stinging ceased for a moment and was replaced by something cool and soft. This stung even worse. He wished he could struggle, but he couldn't move. Cyrus could obviously tell from his expression how he was feeling.  
  
"#%&$, this's even worse."  
  
"It's the antibiotics that's causing the stinging. It should stop. Drak, can you lift your head?"  
  
Drak tried to comply, but felt to dizzy. He could feel Teishi's hands behind his neck, supporting it, while Dr. Dowasure wrapped the bandages tightly around it.   
  
"First th' @#$% limp, now this $#@&in' cut that comes from $#@&in' nowhere...God, kid, you got bad luck."  
  
He felt Cyrus grab hold of one of his hands and Dr. Dowasure hold the other. They pulled him off the ground, and he felt Teishi behind him, supporting him. The sudden change from reclining to standing caused a slight dizzy spell, causing the loss of his vision for a few moments and a feeling of disorientation.  
  
"#%&$, kid, you okay?"  
  
"I'm a little dizzy..." Drak managed to speak for a moment, trying to keep this ability. "I must admit...I am a...little unlucky but...at least I wasn't...alone."  
  
"True, true." Dr. Dowasure seemed to miss the subtlety of this comment. "Or else that cut could have gotten infected. Or you could have passed out from blood loss...I think. Actually, now that I think about it-"  
  
"Shut up, you god@#$%ed moron." Cyrus struck Dr. Dowasure swiftly across the head, nearly knocking him to the floor. "Yer almost as stupid as th' kid is, sometimes."  
  
"Thank you, Cyrus." Drak smiled to himself, feeling his balance returning. "Although I think hitting him was a little much. He did have a point."  
  
Cyrus rolled his eyes, or at least seemed to, and looked off to one side. Dr. Dowasure picked up his glasses from the floor, as they had been knocked off, and looked confused. He stared at Cyrus as if for an explanation, either for the statement or the strike, but he got neither.  
  
"Is it much further, Teishi?" Drak tried to look behind him, but couldn't turn his head that far in his condition. His forehead was still stinging horribly and it was incredibly distracting.  
  
"Not really." Teishi paused before he spoke, as if contemplating every word. "We're near the back exit, I believe."  
  
"Good. I can't wait to get away from this @#$% idiot." Cyrus was not directly looking at Dr. Dowasure, although it was painfully obvious who he was talking about. Drak noticed that Dr. Dowasure was about to speak and wondered if for once the doctor would speak up for himself.  
  
"You didn't have to hit me." Dr. Dowasure continued rubbing his head. Cyrus laughed scornfully at him. Dr. Dowasure sighed and seemed to look off to one side.  
  
"You know, Cyrus, you don't have to be so mean to him all the time." Drak managed to say. Such a long sentence was difficult for him when he felt so light-headed and for a few moments he couldn't see clearly. When his vision focused, he could see Cyrus staring at him.  
  
"Kid, you just don't get it. This mother-$#@&er caused me so much pain...you have no idea what it feels like to be me." Cyrus was apparently realizing how philosophical he was getting and retreated off that tangent. "Besides, his $#@&in' memory problem bugs th' %*$# out of me."  
  
"Dr. Dowasure isn't angry at YOU. Haven't you noticed he's..." Drak took a deep breath to stop the dizziness in his head. "he's never insulted you back?"  
  
"He doesn't have a reason to be angry at me. I didn't torture HIM." Cyrus glared at Dr. Dowasure, who backed away slightly.   
  
"I swear, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't remember..."  
  
"That's th' problem, doc." Cyrus spoke as he stared off to one side. "You wouldn't remember even if you did."  
  
"I don't have it written down...I would have written something like that down, surely..."  
  
"Unless you 'forgot'." Cyrus mocked him cruelly, emphasizing the word "forgot" by making quotation marks with his fingers.  
  
"Could you two stop it...for just a second? You're worse then...then Colt and Caleb." Drak took a breath between words, smiling at the thought of his two friends. How long had it been since he had seen them? He felt a loneliness in his heart. He missed his friends and his life at Ella E's...and he missed her most of all. Her and his Mewtwo...he still felt half-complete. He wondered how his Mewtwo was doing...perhaps it's mother was helping it through this-  
  
"Who?" Both the doctor and the M-2 turned to look at Drak, who was startled out of his train of thought.  
  
"My old friends...they were called Colt and Caleb. They were always fighting...they really hated eachother."  
  
"Then yer right there, kid."  
  
"Well, I don't hate you." Dr. Dowasure looked at Cyrus, confused. Cyrus looked surprised.  
  
"You should. I hate YOU." He said venemously.   
  
"See, Cyrus? He doesn't hold a grudge...even after all the things you've done to him." Drak looked between the two.   
  
"Well, he should." Cyrus crossed his arms. "What kind of $#@&in' idiot wouldn't hate me for all th' #%&$ I did? $#@&in' moron."  
  
"I don't like it when you're mean to me, but I don't hate you." Dr. Dowasure had continued walking, prompting the others to follow. "I don't hate anyone, really."  
  
"What's yer $#@&in' problem, you @#$% weirdo..." Cyrus looked at Dr. Dowasure strangely, but didn't comment further. This was a relief to Drak, who had wanted the two to stop fighting ever since they started.  
  
Although this whole debate did get Drak wondering about how Dr. Dowasure could be so submissive...and why Cyrus almost seemed to want Dr. Dowasure to hate him back. It was another thing that seemed odd to him. But he shrugged, or at least tried to, and continued onwards.  
Teishi led Drak to the door at the end of the hallway they had been walking through. It was Teishi's hold on his hand that prevented Drak from running into the walls. Although Teishi said there was a door, Drak couldn't see one. However, when he got closer, he could see the faint outline of a door.  
  
"This is it?" Cyrus looked skeptical. Teishi gently pressed a hand against the metal.  
  
"This leads to the caverns beneath the Unknown Dungeon...Dr. Dowasure, you need to open this."  
  
"Hmm...how do I do this?" Dr. Dowasure walked forward, looking thoughtful. Cyrus rolled his eyes and grabbed Dr. Dowasure's hand roughly, pressing it against the door. Dr. Dowasure gasped involuntarily, whether from the cold of the metal or the sudden contact was unsure, and the door slid open.  
  
"@#$% moron." Cyrus rolled his eyes. Drak motioned for Teishi to let him sit. After he adjusted to the change in altitude, he gestured towards the door.  
  
"There you go, Cyrus. You're free."  
  
This apparently hadn't struck Cyrus until now, and he balked as if there was something frightening in the dark in front of him. He paused for a moment, then looked thoughtful. He then smiled briefly.  
  
"C'mon then."  
  
"I'm not going." Drak tried to stop the spinning in his head. The cut was deeper or longer then he had expected. It was causing problems in his comprehension.  
  
"Why th' %*$# not?"  
  
"I have something I have to...I have to do."  
  
"#%&$, kid, you don't know what yer doin'. You got to get out of here while you can. Come with me."  
  
"I can't. I told you."  
  
"Then what?" Cyrus sounded angry. He crouched near Drak, staring into his eyes. "What is it you have to do so $#@&in' bad?"  
  
"I don't know...I just can't leave here..."  
  
"If you don't know what you $#@&in' want to do, why do you want to stay?"  
  
"I just can't leave!" Drak spoke with sudden energy, causing him to lose the control he had over the spinning in his head. He couldn't see anything for a few moments, then he could see Cyrus staring at him. He was holding him up, as Drak had lost that ability with the dizzy spell. Cyrus' face softened.  
  
"Look at yerself, kid. You can't do anythin' like this."  
  
"I can't leave." Drak closed his eyes. "I just can't. You have to go."  
  
Cyrus seemed torn by this.  
  
"I won't go without you."  
  
"You have to. You can't stay here." Drak kept his eyes closed. "This is bad place for you...you said so yourself."  
  
"I said 's a bad place for you!" Cyrus spoke again with anger.  
  
"You can't stay Cyrus. I said I wouldn't let you get hurt anymore...if you stayed, that would only hurt you. You can't defend yourself with that on..." Drak pointed groggily at the anklet that blinked on Cyrus' ankle. Cyrus seemed to ignore this.  
  
"Kid..." Cyrus looked torn again. What seemed like both regret and anger crossed his face. "Kid, that was a $#@&in' stupid thing to say in th' first place. You can't protect me..."  
  
"I won't let you get hurt...go now." Drak wished that Cyrus would just go. The tone in his voice was hurting him and causing him to wonder whether or not he was really doing the right thing...whether that was staying or making Cyrus go.  
  
"Come with me. I don't want you hurt neither, kid. Yer my friend, remember? I can't just leave you here..."  
  
"If you really are my friend..." Drak finally opened his eyes, staring directly into Cyrus'. He was trying to control the feelings of doubt and uneasiness and the dizziness that pervaded all his emotions, his senses, and his decisions. "then you'll go."  
  
Drak could see the familiar look of sadness in Cyrus. "Kid, I can't..."  
  
"GO!" Drak shouted suddenly, the dizziness again overtaking him. He felt Cyrus steadying him, then heard a sigh.  
  
"Fine...'M going to do it 'cause yer my friend, kid. But if you get hurt, I swear...I swear I will find th' $#@&er who did it and kill them. I promise."  
  
"Go..." Drak held a hand to his head, watching between his fingers as Cyrus walked near the doorway, then seemed to almost turn at the last minute. "Just go while you still can..."  
  
Cyrus looked at Drak with sad eyes full of regret. Drak could see Cyrus clearly mask this and then smile half-heartedly.  
  
"See you later then, kid...I guess..." Cyrus slowly walked through the door. As soon as he was through, the door slid shut with surprising speed. Drak could hear a sound almost as if something had struck the other side, like a fist. He shook his head, trying to clear the dizziness from his senses. Dr. Dowasure was staring at the door with a confused expression.  
  
"C'mon...we should get back." Teishi lifted him upwards, but Drak stumbled. He felt someone catch him, but found it only to be Dr. Dowasure. He looked concerned.  
  
"I'll take you back to your room, Drak. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Dr. Dowasure smiled for a moment. "I'll just forget about it."  
  
"Thank you..." Drak felt his limp coming back in full force and nearly fell over. He felt Dr. Dowasure take one of his arms and put it around his shoulders.  
  
"Here, you can lean on me. Teishi, take his other arm, will you?"  
  
Teishi did so and soon they were walking back. Drak was left with only his thoughts.  
  
What kind of condition was he in, anyway? If his Mewtwo had gotten a cut like this, that meant they were still connected...did that mean that it had felt the pain of the shock? He had hoped that it wouldn't have felt that pain...but the bond that he and the Mewtwo shared was too deep to break so easily. He reached within his mind, wishing that the Mewtwo was there to tell him what he had done was right, but found nothing. And now even Cyrus was gone. He had no one.  
  
Was it the right thing to let Cyrus leave? Drak stared listlessly at the metal doors that went by. Cyrus' formidable power could be useful in doing whatever it was he was doing, but Cyrus had the anklet on...he couldn't do anything. That left Cyrus helpless to attack...something that Drak would not allow to happen. He focused on that. That must be the reason he let Cyrus go. He had to, for his own safety.   
  
He heard another door slide open and they entered another faceless hallway. Wishing to break the silence, he finally spoke.  
  
"How'd you get to be here, Doc..." Drak almost slipped into Cyrus' habit of calling Dr. Dowasure "Doc" but quickly subdued it. The mental link he had shared with him had evidentally left some remainders of Cyrus' personality on his. His half-personality must have been desperate for some completion and took some of Cyrus' without his conscious knowledge. "tor Dowasure." he finished.  
Dr. Dowasure kept staring straight-ahead, smiling gently to himself.  
  
"I trained under a famous professor...not Prof. Denka, but someone else. After that, I wasn't sure exactly where to go...I never really was interested in Pokémon, so I didn't want to become a Pokémon Professor...besides, they need to know almost everything about Pokémon, and I would only forget." He laughed to himself, a soft, quiet sound. "I was more interested in cloning and other aspects of Pokémon genetics...not the Pokémon themselves...so I found this place. It seemed perfect...so I stayed here. It is a nice place, and I did come up with some theories..."  
  
"Like the M-2's, right?"  
  
"Yes...the cloning process was my idea, originally. I made up the processes for all clones up to C...but after that, Prof. Kagakusha said that I couldn't work in that field anymore and told me to work on something else."  
  
"She did?" Drak tried to remember in his dizzy state how many clones he had heard mentioned...weren't there two more...D and E?  
  
"It was very peculiar...she seemed very interested at first, but she wanted to do strange things...like use the Mew's genes in different ways, like mixing it with other Pokémon and such. In the end, I suppose the only real Pokémon that was mixed with it wasn't a Pokémon at all...it was a human...and it was only a human genome, not a true human..."  
  
"So the experiments were never done on live creatures."  
  
"Oh no!" Dr. Dowasure seemed horrified at the thought. "No, not on live creatures. We took the genetic information and would use it to create the new life...we never hurt anything in the process."  
  
Drak wondered about the validity of that statement after seeing the pain Mewtwo and Cyrus had been after they were "free". "What are you working on now?"  
  
"I'm just analyzing data, currently. Boring work...I wish I was doing something else...but what can you do?" Dr. Dowasure laughed again. "I don't really have a choice..."  
  
"And what about you, Teishi? How did you get to come here?"  
  
Teishi paused a moment before speaking. "I was born here."  
  
"Really?" Drak was surprised at this. He could feel Dr. Dowasure start momentarily, as if also surprised.  
  
"Yes. I don't remember being anywhere else but here."  
  
"What about your mother?"  
  
"I don't know where or who she is. I suppose she's still in here somewhere, but I wouldn't know."  
  
"You don't even know your own mother?" Drak spoke, then regretted it. "Wait...never mind. I don't know my mother either." He smiled at Teishi, who was staring, as usual, directly into his eyes. "All I can remember is living with Mewtwo."  
  
"How very odd..." Dr. Dowasure was mumbling to himself. "I could have sworn..."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Drak turned back to Dr. Dowasure, who smiled disarmingly.  
  
"Nothing, nothing. I was just talking to myself..." Dr. Dowasure paused, as if thinking of something. "You don't want to go to the infirmary for that cut?"  
  
Drak wondered why Dr. Dowasure changed the subject. "That might raise some odd questions. Besides, it's not as bad now. I don't feel quite as dizzy."  
  
"We better keep holding you, anyway. You never know." Teishi smiled. Drak stared ahead and noticed another door.  
  
"We certainly went a long way, didn't way?"  
  
"It didn't seem long...maybe it's because of Dr. Dowasure and M-2 Specimen C's arguing."  
  
"Cyrus." Drak mumbled automatically at the mention of Cyrus' full "name". Dr. Dowasure, apparently having got the hang of the touch panels, pressed his hand to the pad and the door slid open.  
  
The room was large and empty, so much so that it reminded Drak of the stadium he used to battle in when he joined the competition so long ago and then became the ultimate trainer. He looked around and thought that it must be a storage room, although this one was bigger then the last one they had found. He wondered what could possibly be stored in here.  
  
"I don't remember going through this room..." Dr. Dowasure looked around, almost seeming frightened. Drak credited it to the large open area, wondering in his mind whether the doctor had...what was it? He tried to remember...his Mewtwo said it was the opposite of Claustrophobia...the name escaped him at the moment. He shrugged, blaming it on the cut in his forehead.  
  
The door behind them seemed to slam shut, so swiftly that it surprised the three.   
  
"Does it normally do that?" Drak asked. Dr. Dowasure looked confused.  
  
"No, I don't think so...the doors were designed so they wouldn't harm someone if they closed on them...but that seemed to be going too fast..."  
  
"Let's get out of here...this place is creeping me out..." Drak thought about his statement. He had seen things that would turn people's hair white, and yet he was "freaked out" by an empty room. He chided himself for this weakness.  
  
They walked to the door at the other side, but despite Dr. Dowasure's hand, the door remained stubbornly shut.   
  
"That's peculiar..." he pressed his hand against the pad again and again, at some points even trying the back of his hand. "Perhaps the mechanism is broken...?"  
  
Drak could hear clear, definite footsteps behind him, followed by two sets of scraping steps, as if something with claws was walking across the tile. Slowly the three turned.  
  
"I must say I'm not surprised..." Dr. Kagakusha waved a hand airily in Dr. Dowasure's direction. "I thought that one of our personnel would have to have the clearance to open all the doors...and it was most likely you, Dowasure. You always get too attached to things. At any rate, I would like the boy back now. There are some things I need from him."  
  
Dr. Dowasure seemed petrified beyond words, at either being caught or just Dr. Kagakusha being angry at him Drak couldn't tell. Teishi would not speak out...he knew this. So he took it on himself.  
  
"What things?"  
  
"Nothing you need to know about. Are you willing to come along quietly? I know about your psychic powers and I also know that you aren't outfitted with a P.P.E.D.E. or any other thing to limit those powers."  
  
Drak thanked the Mewtwo mentally for the powers he had gained with his association with it. He was about to speak, but Dr. Kagakusha beat him to it.  
  
"If you won't co-operate, I have something of value to you that I'm sure you would not like hurt. You come along with me without resistance and your precious thing won't be harmed."  
  
"I have no such precious thing." Drak wasn't sure what she was talking about. He had no possessions that meant anything to him. He never believed in materialism with the life he had led.  
  
"Everyone does." She gestured with one hand. From behind her walked to creatures which, strangely enough, did not rise horror within Drak. To him, they just seemed like to other creatures. He did, however, hear both Dr. Dowasure and Teishi gasp. "Michelle and Gabriella..."  
  
The two held something between them, which they held forward. This time Drak did gasp.  
  
"Ella E!" 


	13. Egress

Chapter 27  
  
"Egress"  
  
  
"Give it up, Colt. That door isn't opening. At least, not from the inside." Atelli warned the boy. Colt was currently throwing himself at the door bodily, trying to break it open or knock it down. Although this was seen as futile by almost everyone, Colt kept attacking the door, perhaps as a release of frustration for being caught and trapped here. It was well known to most in the room that Colt hated being trapped in anything.  
  
"We can't just stay in here. What will they do to us?" Indigo looked fearfully at the door. Colt gave the door one last cursory kick and slumped against the wall, crossing his arms.   
  
"I remember...those two said they needed new material for experiments..." Caleb looked thoughtful. The others stared at him.  
  
"No way...they're going to experiment on us? Like make us grow tentacles or something?" Tashi waved her hands. "They can't do that!"  
  
"No one knows we're here..." Ashstar shrugged fatalistically. "Technically I suppose they could."  
  
"You think those two were results of that?" Colt gestured towards the door. Ashstar shook her head.  
  
"No...they're much older then this place...as old as the world, maybe."  
  
"What are you, crazy?" Tashi looked at Ashstar. "How could they be THAT old? They'd be dead."  
  
"Maybe they aren't really alive."  
  
"How do you know this, Ashstar?" Kotake looked at her suspiciously. Ashstar shrugged.  
  
"I don't know...same kind of feeling I got before. I don't know who they are, but I hate them. I do know they're old, though. Very old..."  
  
"That reminds me..." Monty had shoved Caleb's legs off the couch and taken a seat there. Since Monty and Caleb were usually on good terms, Caleb allowed this. "Where were we Ashstar? In that little poem of yours?"  
  
"That's right...we were going over that, weren't we? But I don't see how it would help...the poem can't break down the door."  
  
"Wait wait wait...what poem? What are you talking about?" Reimia looked confused, as did his sister. Nick was trying very hard to not get noticed by anyone and was succeeding fairly well. He was embarrassed enough as it was.  
  
"It's some weird poem that Ashstar knows. It made Ella E pass out...maybe it does have some power."  
  
"That was Ella E's fault, not the poem's." Atelli pointed at Caleb, who had just spoken. "I don't think the poem can really do anything."  
  
"It probably means something though, doesn't it? Remember, Ella E said something odd when she woke up...what was it..." Ashstar looked thoughtful.  
  
"Something in Latin, I think. What was it...Magister Mundi Sumus or something." Monty waved one hand in the air.  
  
Ashstar shrugged. "Well, I don't know...I can't remember."  
  
"Do they mention those two things in your little poem?" Reimia rolled his eyes while speaking. Colt glared at him, but Reimia apparently didn't notice. It seemed that the group instantly knew when they were talking about the two creatures that had brought them there. Ashstar looked thoughtful.  
  
"They might have...let me see..." Ashstar closed her eyes and began mouthing words to herself, obviously reciting the poem in an effort to remember. She then shook her head. "No...no I don't think any applies to them...unless..."  
  
"Unless what?"  
  
"Monty, remember you said something about how there were Guardians of the Earth or something?"  
  
"I didn't say that, you did."  
  
"Anyway, remember...they were given that power, weren't they?"  
  
"Well, I guess..."  
  
"What if that power corrupted them? Made them evil? Wouldn't that turn them into things like those two?"  
  
"It might." Monty shrugged. "If this whole thing really happened. If I hadn't seen those two with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. In fact, I still don't really believe it..."  
  
"Actually, neither do I." Indigo said softly.  
  
"Me too." Kotake joined in.  
  
"Maybe they do that to people. Anyway...this still doesn't solve this whole problem of the door." Colt hit the door with his fist. "How do we get out? No windows, only one door, and that's locked."  
  
"Ashstar..." Caleb looked at her. She stared at him, confused.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You said you were the 'Guardian of the Earth'?"  
  
Ashstar shook her head back and forth quickly. "No no no, I never said that I was a Guardian...I could never-"  
  
"Remember? Something spoke to you before we left the Manachu's cave." Monty pointed at her. "It called you Guardian."  
  
"I can't be a Guardian...that was just crazy talk from my grandma. There's no such thing." Ashstar seemed to be getting offended.  
  
"Why did your parents make you learn that poem? You said they made you..."  
  
"It doesn't mean anything! I don't have to do anything! I'm not a Guardian and I'll never be one."  
  
"So they DO exist."  
  
"I didn't say that!" Ashstar was frustrated at her own mistake. The others were watching this with interest, even Kotake.  
  
"If you're a Guardian, that means you must have some kind of power or something-"  
  
"I'm NOT a Guardian!" Ashstar stood up, her fists clenched. "Stop saying that! I don't have any powers or anything!"  
  
"You're our only hope of escaping, Ashstar, you know that, right?" Monty half-closed his eyes, as he usually did. "They took all our Pokémon...even Caleb's."  
  
Caleb looked down and noticed for the first time that Monty was right. He hadn't even noticed the two taking his Pokémon away. The others looked over themselves as well, as if just realizing that fact.  
  
"I can't do anything. I can't say "Alacazam" or something and have the door spring open." Ashstar sat back down, crossing her arms. Monty shrugged.  
  
"I wasn't saying you could, I just said you may have some kind of special powers or something-"  
  
"Like what?" Ashstar interrupted him. Atelli spoke up.  
  
"Are you telepathic?"  
  
Ashstar stared at her blankly. "No."  
  
"Have you ever tried?"  
  
"No! This is stupid! I'm not going to try because I don't have any magical powers or anything! I don't know why you're all asking me these questions!"  
  
"Okay, Ashstar..." Atelli was evidently ignoring what Ashstar said. "I'm thinking of a number between one and ten..."  
  
"I refuse to do this! This is stupid!"  
  
"Come on Ashstar, at least try."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Just one guess?"  
  
"Fine, three. I don't care."  
  
Atelli paused for a moment and smiled. "It was nine. Sorry."  
  
"See?" Ashstar gestured broadly, although this did nothing to lessen the interest that was fixated on her.  
  
"Are you invincible, maybe? Can't be hurt?" Caleb poked at Ashstar, who moved away. She pointed to the cut on her forehead, which had scabbed over already.  
  
"This look like I'm invincible? I'm telling you, I'm not-"  
  
"Maybe you can heal really fast...your black eye is gone."  
  
"Shut up and leave me alone!" Ashstar sat down and closed her eyes. "I don't want to hear this!"  
  
"I agree with her on this." Reimia said finally. The others looked at him. "I don't think she can do anything, If we're going to get out we need to do it ourselves. We can't depend on her."  
  
Ashstar opened one eye and stared at Reimia. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"I'm just saying that we don't need your help, right Tashi?" He looked at his sister. "I mean, you said it yourself. You can't do anything. So you're essentially useless."  
  
"I am NOT useless!" Ashstar was extremely offended at this. Colt smiled to himself when he realized the game Reimia was playing with Ashstar's mind. He had been on the receiving side of this kind of game and for a while had more often then not lost. But after a while, he had learned how to return and eventually how to win. But Ashstar had no such previous experience and therefore was destined to lose.  
  
"You said you couldn't do anything right? No power, no strength..." Reimia pointed to Ashstar's thin arms and legs. "No plans to get us out. I vote we stop dwelling on something pointless and think of a useful plan."  
  
"I'm not pointless!" Ashstar stood angrily. "I can get us out of here and I'll prove it!"  
She walked over to the door, pressed her hand to it, and began talking to herself.  
  
"Ianua, parete me...impereo te ad aperitus esse!" she finished by shouting the last two words.  
The door slowly slid to one side.  
  
Ashstar turned and pointed at Reima. "Ha!"  
  
Everyone didn't speak for a few moments.  
  
"Ashstar, you..." Caleb pointed towards the door. She looked back at it and crossed her arms.  
  
"I showed you all! I'm not useless NOW, am I? Ha ha-...wait a minute..." she looked back at the door. "I...I opened it..."  
  
"That sounded like more Latin." Monty stood and brushed himself off. "Do you know Latin, Ashstar?"  
  
"No! Not a word..." Ashstar was still struck by the fact she had opened the door. "How did I do that..."  
  
Colt walked by and slapped her on the back, nearly knocking her over. "Good job, Guardian. Now all we have to do is find Ella E...wherever she is in this strange place..."  
  
The group left the room, the door shutting behind them. Kotake looked nervous.  
  
"What if they find out we escaped?"  
  
"Then Ashstar opens the door again. Simple as that."  
  
"I don't know whether I can do that again...that was very strange...I don't...understand..." Ashstar was mumbling to herself.  
  
"Well...let's see...anyone have any idea where we should go?" Monty turned in a circle. The room they were at was at the apex of a junction...thus there were three different ways they could turn. And each way looked the same as the last.  
  
"If we had some Pokémon, they could smell their way to her..."  
  
"Let's not dwell on what we don't have." Reimia knelt towards the ground, running his fingers over the floor. "There are claw marks here..."  
  
"Claw marks?"  
  
"Didn't those two have bird feet, or something? It looked like they did..." Tashi looked thoughtful.  
  
"We can follow the tracks! That's a great idea, Reimia!" Atelli smiled and bounced slightly. Reimia sighed.  
  
"Problem is..." the others looked at him. "these tracks split off. Those two must be in here quite a lot...so the tracks are all over the place."  
  
There was a collective groan from the group.  
  
"Can you tell which ones are more recent?"  
  
"That's out of my range." Reimia stood slowly. "I could just see them."  
  
This time Colt knelt and looked at the tracks.  
  
"I think they lead over that way...most recently, anyway."  
  
"Are you sure?" Caleb looked at him suspiciously. Colt shrugged.  
  
"It's better then nothing. And we better go somewhere, because just standing here we're wide open to attack or capture or anything."  
  
"Well, we don't have much of a choice. We might as well go that way..." the group set off to the right passageway, none of them noticing the small smear of blood on the wall of the left passageway...where a scrap of cloth, as if torn off of a shirt, lay on the tile.  
  
~~~  
  
"Hmm...locked." Colt pressed his hand to the door, testing to see whether or not he could push it open or not.  
  
"Nice job, Colt." Caleb crossed his arms. "More time wasted."  
  
"Well, it might not be wasted. They could have gone this way and just closed the door. Ashstar..."  
  
"I don't know if I can do it again..." Ashstar walked forward. "But I guess I can try..."  
  
They had been walking for quite some time, although the passage of time was hard to measure. The hallway had gone on straight for quite some time, but had finally ended in the door they were currently facing. Ashstar pressed her hand to the door and closed her eyes. She mumbled underneath her breath.  
  
Slowly the door slid open, but stopped halfway.  
  
"Why did it stop...?" Ashstar stared at it, confused. Colt shrugged and slid through.   
  
"Beats me, but we better go through while we can."  
  
The others swiftly followed Colt, squeezing through the door. Indigo, who was the last, almost had the door close on her fingers.   
  
"What room is this?" Colt looked around, confused. The wall was lined with tubes filled with some kind of liquid. In one corner there was a computer, it's screensaver running, and the lights were off. The only illumination came from the tubes where were giving off a strange, green glow and the flashing lights of the computer monitor.  
  
"This is kind of creepy." Indigo shivered. "Where are the lights?"  
  
Ashstar ran her hands over the wall, but felt nothing. She looked at the ceiling, but she couldn't see it clearly.  
  
"I don't think there are any..."  
  
"Well, we might as well see if there's another door through here..." Colt walked off to one side. Monty walked over to the computer, instantly curious, and deactivated the screensaver. Unfortunately, a password request soon appeared on the screen and Monty was forced to type in random words. The others slowly dispersed, wandering around the room on their own.  
  
"I got it!" Monty shouted. Atelli walked over to join him, but the other were apparently to interested in what they were doing to go and investigate.  
  
"You guessed the password? What was it?"  
  
"Angel. I was just typing words and that came up." Monty shrugged. "I have no idea. Anyway, let's see what we got here..."  
  
There were only a few things on the desktop. There wasn't even a "My Computer" or "Hard-drive" icon. There was only a list of documents, each one named a seemingly non-consequential sequence of numbers and letters. When Monty tried to use a menu, there were none to be found.   
  
"LEYP1735....LEYP1736....LEYP1737...What the heck is a Leyp?" Monty wondered. Atelli shrugged.  
  
"Probably an acronym for something."  
  
"M2SPCA....M2SPCB...M2SPCC...M2SPCD....More gibberish! What kind of person would name their files this?"  
  
"I bet they understood them. Are any of them recognizable?"  
  
"Wait...there's one here called Mezasei..." Monty doubleclicked the file. He then frowned. "Hmmph...just japanese. Looks kind of like Lyrics, I guess. Hmm...wait, here's another one...Crater?" Monty doubleclicked on that. A long text file opened. He scanned it quickly.  
  
"Looks like someone was bored on company time." Atelli smirked. "They were writing a story."  
  
"A fanfic, it looks more like. Although I've never heard of this...Cloud? Cid? Vincent? Sephiroth? What kind of names are those?" He closed the file, then laughed to himself. "Heh, there are three more files...Crater, Crater2, and Crater3. Someone has been writing a lot."  
  
"Just try and find a map or something...there has to be a map on this thing somewhere."  
  
Monty scrolled down the list of text files. "Wait...this one doesn't seem to be a text file...What's the title? I can't read it...it's typed in some Japanese font..."  
  
"Grow Up Potential...Yume ni Mukatte." Atelli read off. Monty looked at her.  
  
"You know japanese?"  
  
"Some."  
  
He doubleclicked it.  
  
Instantly loud music blared from the speakers. As Monty struggled to turn it off, Colt ran over.  
  
"What are you two doing?!" he exclaimed over the music. Monty clicked frantically.  
  
"Hold on, hold on. It was an accident...I think I can stop it..."  
  
The music halted quickly. Colt took his hands off his ears.   
  
"Try and be a little more quiet, okay?" Colt looked around, deciding on a different subject. "This room is huge...I haven't been able to find an exit."  
  
"Keep looking." Atelli said distractedly as Monty continued scrolling downwards. Colt walked off, having no interest in computers, while Monty and Atelli kept looking.  
  
"Darn it...they're becoming gibberish again...PPEDEv1.0, PPEDEDv2.0, EMPEv4.0, AOLv4.0...whatever THAT is..." Monty shrugged. "What else? More japanese words...this one says Teishi."  
  
"Probably more song lyrics. Keep going."  
  
Monty continued scrolling downwards. "Kagakusha, Dowasure, Denka...more and more japanese words. I wonder how many lyrics this person has on this. What's this? There are fourteen files named Howl...and there are fifteen files here named Koi...Koi, koi2, koi3, koi4..."  
  
"Probably nothing of importance."  
  
Nevertheless, Monty opened Koi. The words Koinonayami ~ Prologue greeted him. Then the document closed itself. He tried to open it again, but it claimed there was a illegal operation.  
  
"I guess we can't look at that one. Keep going..."  
  
"Here's some more files with real words...Michelle and Gabriella..."  
  
"Probably more stories. Keep going."  
  
Suddenly, Monty stopped and highlighted a file. "I think this one might be interesting..."  
  
"Kotake!" Atelli called. "We found something you might want to-"  
  
Kotake's piercing scream broke through her sentence. Atelli turned to Monty.  
  
"Think she's okay?"  
  
"It could be nothing...We should probably go anyway...let's see...print...document..."  
  
There was a buzzing noise to his left and he noticed a printer. It printed out three sheets of paper in record speed, which Monty quickly grabbed. As soon as he removed his hand from the mouse, however, the screensaver clicked back on. It seemed to be a varying mixture of colors and shapes that went along to some kind of silent music. Wishing he could study it further, he ran after Atelli, who was dashing off to where she had heard the scream last.  
  
She came to the sight of Kotake sitting on the floor, crying openly, staring with wide eyes at one of the green tubes which, for once, was holding something. Kotake was clutching at her shirt convulsively, as if she could never let go. The others seemed just as transfixed.  
  
"What's wrong?" Atelli knelt near Kotake.  
  
"It's Kame..." she mumbled softly. Atelli turned her attention to the tube, looking at what was inside.  
  
It was a girl...with long, flowing white hair. She had never seen her before, but it seemed as if the others had. The girl's hair was the purest white she had ever seen...but the rest of her skin had an odd, bluish-purple tint to it. There were cords running to and from her body, leading up towards the top of the tube. He arms looked thin and spindly, but her legs were massively muscular. Other then the wires leading into her palms, her thighs, and her neck, there were no seeming systems of support. Atelli wondered how she could breathe and then wondered what kind of person would do this.  
  
Monty looked down at the paper, seemingly shocked at both it and the girl in the tube.  
  
"Kame.txt..." he read off the top. "Experiment conducted by Doctor Kagakusha, indirectly assisted by Professor Denka, theory taken from Doctor Dowasure, adapted and modified by Doctor Kagakusha. Procedure - Take a living, human organism and inject the M2AL6 set of genes into it over a period of one month. Objective - Create a new form of life with psychic powers rivaling all other clones with no sense of resistance or identity. Subject - Kame Twinrova. Codename - M-2 Specimen E." 


	14. Ransom

Chapter 28  
  
"Ransom"  
  
  
A multitude of emotions flooded over Drak at seeing Ella E again after so long. It overwhelmed him at first, leaving him stunned. Anger, surprise, fear, worry, love...all of the emotions crashed against him. Underneath this influence, he wasn't aware of Dr. Dowasure and Teishi looking at him in a confused way. This was understandable...they did not know who this girl was or why she would have such an effect on Drak.  
  
"I take it this is worth something to you, isn't it?" Dr. Kagakusha had her lazy, bored stare again. "If you don't want to see her harmed, you will come with me."  
  
"How do I know you won't hurt her?" Drak kept his eyes fixed on Ella E. As it was, she seemed uninjured...but she was unconcious. How did she get in the grasp of those two creatures? Why had she come here...  
  
"You don't. I don't have to promise anything...after all, I'm in the position of power here." Dr. Kagakusha smiled. "You have no power, while I have all. I don't have to promise anything to you."  
  
"What do you want from me?"  
  
"Many things." Dr. Kagakusha waved a hand. "I don't think I should tell you them, however. Why should I? Dr. Dowasure..." Dr. Dowasure flinched at the mention of his name. "You said that certain words can trigger the fainting spells, isn't that correct?"  
  
"Yes, I think that's the general theory..." Dr. Dowasure didn't want to speak, but in the end he found himself speaking against his will, unable to resist answering a question that he knew the answer to.  
  
She smiled again. "Technically there are three ways to disable you, Drak." She pointed at Ella E. "There's the threat of harm coming to her..." she brushed her fingers of the shoulder of her labcoat, over the letters enscribed on her sleeve. "There are the key-words..."  
  
She reached into her labcoat and pulled out a shotgun. "And there is this. And this isn't loaded with a net."  
  
"What do you want from me?" Drak repeated, wanting an answer.  
  
"As I said before, I don't have to tell you, therefore I won't. You'll know soon enough, anyway."  
  
"I won't go unless I know what you're going to do."  
  
"You don't have a choice." She checked the ammunition in the shotgun and clicked it shut. She sounded bored. "You're coming with me, whether you want to or you know what you're doing or not."  
  
Drak was silent, not sure of what to do or say. She had him trapped.  
  
"First, however, the witnesses must be disposed of. They could be bothersome. Michelle, come here."  
  
One of the creatures, the one with dark blue long hair and red eyes, let go of one of Ella E's wrists and walked forward, their claws scraping against the floor. The other creature took both of the girls wrists, keeping her aloft. Drak stared at her in concern. She wasn't going to wake up soon...why was she here? Why had she let herself get captured?  
  
"Michelle, you can kill Teishi. The Blond one. I don't care about him. Incapacitate the Doctor, however. He may be useful."  
  
"You aren't hurting Teishi!" Drak moved forward. Teishi moved behind him, evidentally understanding Drak's gesture of protection. He, however, remained silent. Dr. Kagakusha sighed.  
  
"Fine, I'll dispose of Teishi myself. Just take care of the Doctor, Michelle."  
  
Dr. Dowasure cringed against the wall, trying to get as far away from the strange creature as possible. She walked towards him slowly, her wings folded along her back. As the creature continued moving towards him, he tried to get as far away from it as possible, eventually sinking to his knees against the wall and holding his hands forward in a futile attempt to protect himself.  
  
"You're going to hurt him, aren't you?" Drak said venemously.   
  
Dr. Kagakusha shrugged, looking off to one side. "If he tries to struggle, he may get hurt. I don't care, as long as he's alive."  
  
Dr. Dowasure made a small noise of fright as the creature towered over him, it's wings spreading slowly until he was enveloped in the dark shade. He stared at it with his frightened brown eyes, unsure of what he could do to stop her.  
  
"Please...don't hurt me..." he whispered, unable to raise his voice any louder. Michelle stared down at him with the same emotionless expression that seemed to remain constantly on her face. Her clawed hands reached forward quickly and gripped his uplifted wrists. He made a short cry before he was lifted easily off the ground. Not even trying to break free, he only trembled under the creature's grasp. Dr. Kagakusha shook her head at him, a vague expression of annoyance on her face. Dr. Dowasure barely managed to turn his head towards her.  
  
"Dr. Dowasure, why did you do something this stupid?" Dr. Kagakusha spoke in the cold, methodical way that Drak remembered her using before when speaking with Dr. Dowasure. "Attempting to assist an escape...didn't you know you'd be caught?" Now the tone was more angry, something that Drak was not used to hearing from the woman. "That there was no way to fool everyone here?"  
  
"I...I..." Dr. Dowasure was unable to form words in his fright. Drak could see him trying and failing. Dr. Kagakusha laughed spitefully at him.  
  
"And now you can't even speak from fear. It's your memory, isn't it?" She had a kind of hatred in her voice that Drak could recognize in Cyrus' voice when speaking to the Doctor. He could see Dr. Dowasure's eyes softening with sadness, much like when Prof. Denka was speaking to him.   
  
"Can't remember what words you want to say? I'm not surprised. The more stress you're under, the stupider you get. If it weren't for your theories, I would have had you ejected from here long ago."  
  
Dr. Dowasure stared at her blankly. She rolled her eyes.  
  
"The cloning theories. They were incredibly useful...it's a wonder they came from an idiot like you."  
  
Dr. Dowasure stared at her, still confused. He then turned his gaze towards Drak, painfully. Drak stared into his sad, brown eyes. He didn't want to see him or Teishi hurt...even if it meant his own life...he didn't want someone else to get hurt because of him.  
  
"If you let them go, I'll come with you." Drak said quietly. Dr. Kagakusha stared at him and then shrugged.  
  
"A noble effort, I understand. But I don't have to bargain with you. You have nothing to offer me."  
  
"I won't resist."  
  
"You won't and you can't resist anyway." Dr. Kagakusha sounded mildly annoyed at repeating herself. "Even if you do, there are a number of ways I can incapacitate you."  
  
Drak was searching desperatly for some way out of this. He tried to stall for time, although he knew most of his questions wouldn't be answered. "Does anyone else know what you're doing?"  
  
"Why should I tell you?" Dr. Kagakusha rolled her eyes. "You don't quite seem to be getting the concept here. I thought you were a little smarter then that."  
  
Drak narrowed his eyes at the comment. He glanced back at Teishi, who was simply watching without a definite expression. He turned back to her.  
  
"Won't someone notice if you kill Teishi?" Drak kept his eyes locked with the woman's, although this bothered him to some extent for a reason he could not understand. Teishi remained silent behind him.  
  
"No one cares about him." Dr. Kagakusha laughed briefly. "No one knows he's here. He has no family. And he can easily be replaced."  
  
"Replaced?"  
  
"Yes, replaced. I can see you want to know more, so I won't tell you."  
  
Drak looked back at Teishi to see how he reacted to Dr. Kagakusha's words, but found he still had the same expression that he had before.  
  
"How did you find Ella E?"  
  
"I don't have to tell you."  
  
Drak was getting annoyed at the woman's persistance. In movies, whenever the hero asked the villain a question, they would explain it perfectly. This didn't seem to be the case in real life, he found. That was considering, he heard a voice in his head whisper, that he was the hero and she was the villain. However, Drak had more pressing problems then the morality of the current struggle and shook away the thoughts. "What are those two creatures?"  
  
"Gabriella and Michelle." Dr. Kagakusha gestured towards Gabriella, who held Ella E securely, and then to Michelle, who held Dr. Dowasure. "But other then that, that information is highly classified."  
  
"So there's actually a reason for not telling me this time?" Drak laughed humorlessly, unable to understand where such a flippant statement had come from. Dr.Kagakusha simply stared at him.  
  
"If it wasn't classified, I wouldn't tell you anyway."  
  
"I thought as much."  
  
"As much as I love to linger here and tell you what you can't know..." Dr. Kagakusha put a hand on her hip, leaning the shotgun against her shoulder with her other. "I have a schedule to keep."  
  
"Why did you bring a shotgun?"  
  
Dr. Kagakusha sighed. "In case some undesirables showed up. And also to get rid of the witnesses. But I suppose that can wait until you're out of the way."  
  
Drak wasn't sure whether she meant literally or figuratively. "Would you really kill Teishi?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Drak paused for a moment, regarding the woman's quick and emotionless reply with amazement. It took him a moment to speak, this time with more energy. "Don't you care?"  
  
"I'll tell you one thing." Dr. Kagakusha put on an emotionless, blank face. "When you're in a profession like mine for a long time, you begin to care less for things like ethics and morals. They only get in the way."  
  
"What about Dr. Dowasure? He told me himself that he cared-"  
  
"Have you heard anyone here say he's a true scientist?"  
  
Drak thought for a moment and realized that almost everyone he had met had called Dr. Dowasure a disgrace to the scientific profession...Cyrus, Prof. Denka, Dr. Kagakusha...why? Was it because he had a bad memory or because he cared too much? Hadn't Dr. Kagakusha herself remarked about how much he cared? Was that why he wasn't a true scientist? And yet, he seemed to have done more then all the others...Dr. Kagakusha almost thanked him for the theories that he had created. Drak was confused. He shook it away, cursing his mind for distracting him.  
  
"What do you need Dr. Dowasure for?"  
  
"I'm not going to tell you." Dr. Kagakusha sighed again. "Now come with me. This is making me very late."  
  
"I'm not going with you." Drak took a defensive stance, not sure of how the woman would respond. However, it was different then he expected.  
  
"You don't have a choice." She walked near Ella E, placing the barrel of the shotgun underneath her chin, pushing her head upwards. Drak extended a hand, not sure exactly what he could do.   
  
"Should I start with her? Kill her right here? That would undoubtedly scar you for life, I would think. Just come with me quietly and there won't be any problems."  
  
~~~  
  
"Are you sensing anything?" Eclipse asked. "Stalagmite on your left."  
  
The Mewtwo sidestepped the stalagmite, trying to keep his balance. The cut on his forehead had impaired his vision somewhat, so he had left the navigation through the dark caves to Eclipse. She had better night vision anyway.  
  
"Not yet, mother. I think I can feel some kind of psychic enamanations over in that direction."  
  
"Watch your step, there's a incline here." Eclipse fluttered off her son's head, hovering near the beginning of the incline. She sniffed delicately. "Yes, people have definitly been around here. Caleb, I think. I wonder how he got down without hurting himself. My son, can you concentrate long enough to float for a few moments? I don't think you can walk...wait a moment." Eclipse leaned closer to the ground, pawing at some of the rocks. She brought her paw to her nose and looked at the Mewtwo. "Yes, there's blood here...I think it's Calebs...but there seems to be a different scent here...I can't tell what it is though...reminds me almost of the Manachu for some reason..."  
  
The Mewtwo kneeled down next to his mother. He brushed one of his paws over the rocks, noticing the vague red color.  
  
"You're right...it is blood. It does kind of remind me of the Manachu...there's something wrong about it...I think it came from the creatures that attacked me."  
  
"We best move on as fast as we can. This place doesn't seem right for some reason."  
  
The Mewtwo's eyes glowed momentarily and a blue field of energy encircled him. He slowly raised off the ground, hovering awkwardly. He then began to float down the incline, keeping it in sight by remaining only a few inches away from the gravelly surface. Eclipse flew alongside him, looking around cautiously.  
  
"Do you think the others are all right?"  
  
"I'm sure they must be, mother. They can take care of themselves, I think."  
  
"I'm worried...what if what attacked us attacked them too?"  
  
"We would have found traces now, I'm sure. They must have gone this way. They..."  
  
The Mewtwo paused for a moment, near the end of the incline. Eclipse stared at him.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I can feel something now...it's not Drak, but it's something else...it feels very powerful...and almost familiar..." The Mewtwo shook his head. "It's gone now. That's strange..."  
  
"Where did it come from?"  
  
"It was over there."  
  
"I have a feeling we may need to battle soon...you best reserve your strength." Eclipse took her customary spot on the Mewtwo's head as he touched the ground gently. He continued walking.  
  
"What will we battle?"  
  
"I don't know...it's just a feeling. I wish the Nyashock was here...it could tell us...but it disappeared along with the others..."  
  
"I hope we find Drak soon, mother."  
  
"I hope we do too. You seem to be getting along nicely without him, however."  
  
"It's only the hope of finding him again that keeps me from killing myself."  
  
Eclipse nodded. "Understandable, of course. The pain of abandonment doesn't lessen, it grows. Loneliness is terrible."  
  
"Well, at least there's you, Mother. I'm not alone."  
  
"I'm no replacement for Drak and we both know it." Eclipse smiled. "That's why we're looking for him and not running back for help."  
  
"...I'm sorry, Mother."  
  
"You shouldn't be, you haven't done anything wrong." Eclipse laughed gently. She peered around the cave. "Hmm...haven't you noticed something odd?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"There aren't many other Pokémon in here...I think those two must frighten or eat them all."  
  
"I noticed that...I remember there used to be lots of Pokémon in here, but now..."  
  
Eclipse paused for a moment, as if choosing her words. She spoke softly. "I'm sorry that I ran away while you were attacked."  
  
"It's okay, Mother. I know that you don't like to fight." The Mewtwo smiled. "Besides, I'm not sure what you could have done. Those things...they didn't even slow down when I hit them with my most powerful psychic attack...I don't understand how that is possible. I AM the strongest Pokémon alive, aren't I?" The Mewtwo seemed to be asking this question to himself more then to his mother. She didn't seem to notice.  
  
"That's the theory, yes. But I don't think those two were Pokémon. Hmm...this is odd..." Eclipse flew forward, touching the wall they had come to. "I think the trail ends here...but how could that be?"  
  
"Hmmmmm..." The Mewtwo walked forward, pressing his paw against the wall.  
  
Immediately horrifying images from his creation lept into his mind, the pain, the darkness, the agony all rushed into his mind unbidden, causing long forgotten unpleasant memories to reappear frighteningly for a moment. He nearly screamed, tearing his paw away from the wall with a jerk. Eclipse was near him instantly.  
  
"What's wrong? What happened?"  
  
The Mewtwo looked at his paw, as if expecting it to be burned, then turned his gaze to the wall. "This is it, mother, I know this is it. I can tell just by how it feels...this must be an entrance into that horrible place somehow. I think this is a secret door."  
  
"That would explain it. Do you think you can open it?"  
  
"I can try..." The Mewtwo gingerly placed his paw back on the wall, fighting back the urges to run from his feelings as best as he could. He sent some of his psychic energy into the wall, only a little, as a test, and the door slid open. The cold hallways were revealed.  
  
"You did it!"  
  
"A little too easily, I think..." The Mewtwo looked around suspiciously. He walked inside as the door slid shut, Eclipse sitting on his shoulder. He noticed a small pad near the door, totally bereft of light. He studied it carefully. "It seems that someone else has overloaded this before me."  
  
"It's not important. Do you feel Drak? Is he here?"  
  
The Mewtwo placed his paws to his head, focusing all his power. "I....I can't feel him...but I can feel the others...they're in a group...Atelli and Monty and..." The Mewtwo's eyes jerked open. Eclipse stared at him with worry.  
  
"What?"  
  
"There's something else...it's not one of the group...it's some other thing...something powerful...much, much more powerful then me...but it feels familiar...I'm not sure..."  
  
"Is it the one from before?"  
  
"No no, this one is even greater...but I think it's sleeping..."  
  
"Well, at least we know the others are in here. Do you know where they are?"  
  
"I think they're in that direction, but I'm not sure. This place clouds my thoughts...do you know what it's like to come back here after what happened to me, Mother? It's-"  
  
"It's okay...just focus on trying to find our friends. Then we can leave and we never have to come back, okay?"  
  
The Mewtwo sighed and began walking, his huge footpaws causing small thuds on the cold metal floor of his ultimate nightmare.  
  
~~~  
  
"Open it!" Kotake shouted hysterically.  
  
"I don't know how!" Ashstar looked helplessly at the container that held Kame. "Besides, it might kill her...those wires look important."  
  
"You can't honestly believe she needs to be in there!" Kotake pressed her hands against the cold glass. Tears flowed from her eyes. "My sister...my poor sister...what have they done to you?"  
  
Monty sat on the floor, trying to read what he had printed out by the faint green light.   
  
"According to this, the synthesis between Kame's genes and whatever other genes they're putting into her isn't complete. The M2AL6 set...according to this, it's missing the M2 part, whatever that means. It says that they...well, more like Dr. Kagakusha really...he seems to be the only one who worked on this. Hmmm...he needed two sets of gene samples from things called M2's, or something...two different kinds. But I'm not sure why..."  
  
"What else does it say?" Atelli kneeled next to Monty.  
  
"It says that the whole process has been...paused, I think, because he wasn't able to get the right genes for it in time. So he paused it and left her here...it doesn't give any motive for doing this, though..."  
  
"Mewtwo was created simply to see if it could be..." Reimia stared at the tube passively. "Perhaps this was just simply some idle curiousity-"  
  
"My sister is not a curiousity! This is horrifying! How dare they do this to a human being! We have to get her out somehow!" Kotake seemed to be constantly crying, tears continued to fall from her eyes regardless of how she felt.  
  
"I don't think that would wise..." Monty continued reading. "According to this, she's not complete...so if we took her out, she might die. Or worse, go insane."  
  
"Like she wasn't before." Colt mumbled underneath his breath. Luckily no one heard him.  
  
"It'd be better if she died then if she became some monstrosity! Kame, Kame, wake up! It's Kotake! Open your eyes! Please! Please, Kame! Please!" Kotake struck her fist against the tube uselessly, but in the end gave up. Kame floated serenly, not giving off the slightest sign of her being aware of her surroundings or her sister in any way.  
  
"I think there's some kind of motive..." Atelli took the first page away from Monty, reading over it critically. "See, they pay special attention to the fact that she would have no free will or identity in the objective part. Like a machine."  
  
"Mewtwo gave itself an identity...that's why it escaped, isn't it? It's certainly not a machine." Caleb stared helplessly at Kame's prone form.  
  
"I think...I think they wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen again. So they don't want her to have a personality or anything."  
  
"Hmm..." Monty squinted. "I think there were others before Kame..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It says here that there were three others before her, all of which were...it says 'flawed' here because of personality defects."  
  
"Well, this raises an interesting problem." Tashi walked to the tube and placed her hand on it, noticing the frigidness of the glass. "If we take her out before she's done, she could die. If we wait for her to be done, she'll be nothing but a machine. What can we do?"  
  
"Well, before we talk about after we get her out, we might as well figure out HOW to get her out. Does it say anything about that in there, Monty?" Colt paced around, looking at the blank walls. There were no switches, no levers. Just a blank wall. And on the other wall the line of tubes continued.  
  
"Um...I'm looking...this is hard to read, you know. I've never SEEN technical talk this complicated before...listen to this...'Subject illustrates previous mental disorders which could prove facilitory to the synthesization-hybridization process. Subject's seems receptive to preliminary chemicals and resources, no signs of rejection. The experimentation must proceed with care, the female's mind is in a fragile state which could be harmed inadvertantly by over-stimulation and an overflow to the introduction of the preliminary psychic bombardment...'...It goes on and on like this...and don't even get me started on the talk about DNA chains and different gene patterns and stuff like that. I don't even understand what the heck they're talking about most of the time."  
  
"My sister is not a subject!" Kotake slowly sat down, staring at her sister with pained eyes. "She's a living, breathing human being..."  
  
"Hey, it mentions that Leyp thing here..." Atelli had taken one of the last pages and was scanning it quickly. "Doesn't explain what it is, though."  
  
"Doesn't it mention anything about buttons or switches or anything?"  
  
"I think there's a release function here...but according to this..." Monty paused for a moment, re-reading the sentence several times. "It's only mentioned after the process is complete. I don't think there's a way to get her out before then."  
  
"How bad do you think she is?" Indigo looked at Kame. Everyone looked at her. She shrugged. "I mean, how far gone do you think her mind is? I'm sure that wiping her mind clean would be a gradual process, probably started at the beginning with that 'psychic bombardment' you were talking about before, Monty. So probably a lot of her memories are erased by now..."  
  
Kotake sobbed. "She probably wouldn't even remember me!"  
  
Ashstar kneeled near her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure she would at least remember you. She's known you for years upon years. I bet she's just forgotten about the massacre and Ella E and Max and everything by now. She's probably back to where you first met me."  
  
Kotake brushed Ashstar's hand off her shoulder roughly. "Well, at least she won't remember you. There's something positive."  
  
Ashstar sighed and stood. "I guess some things don't change over time."  
  
"Maybe we could hide here..." Caleb mused aloud. "We could hide here and wait for Dr. Kagakusha to come and inject her with one of those sets of genes. He would probably have to remove her for that, wouldn't he?"  
  
"I'm not sure...it's not exactly clear here...I think so."  
  
"So we wait for that, then we can grab her and run."  
  
"Great plan." Colt rolled his eyes. Caleb glared at him.  
  
"Why don't YOU think of a better one?"  
  
"Now we have three problems." Atelli placed her papers on the floor. "There's the problem of getting Kame out of here without her becoming a zombie, there's the fact that my sister has mysteriously disappeared,along with the Mewtwo, and there's the original reason we came here. Drak. There's still no sign of him."  
  
"But...but if we leave Kame alone, that Doctor could come and finish the process!" Kotake leaned against the tube. "We can't just abandon her to go look for the others."  
  
"We can't just sit here, either. It could take days, weeks for this person to find what they're looking for. We would starve." Caleb looked down.  
  
"But...but my sister..." Kotake began crying again in earnest. "Why did this have to happen to her!?"  
  
"...This gets me wondering about Max. Whatever happened to him?" Caleb again thought aloud.  
  
"Who cares." Colt said irritably. "I think I have an idea." The others looked at him. He stood, brushing himself off. "Why don't we split up?"  
  
"Split up?"  
  
"Since Kotake really wants to stay here, she can wait here for whoever it is to come and finish the job. Anyone else who doesn't want to stay can continue looking. If we don't find anything after a few hours, we come back to check up here."  
  
"That's not that bad of an idea...but who should stay?"  
  
"I can't stand waiting around doing nothing, so I'll be looking." Colt smiled. Monty placed his papers on the ground.  
  
"I might as well come along too...I don't want to wait around here for nothing..."  
  
"I'll come too." Caleb suddenly spoke, causing the others to blink in surprise.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"If you do find Drak, what if they wiped his mind clean like Kame's? He might need us to remember. All three of us."  
  
"I never thought about that..." Monty looked thoughtful. "What if they've messed around with his body or something...?"  
  
"Don't talk like that." Colt sounded slightly angry. "I'm sure Drak would never let some wacko scientists screw around with his body."  
  
Monty nodded and smiled.  
  
"I might as well go too." Atelli sighed. "My sister is missing...it's my responsibility."  
  
"I'm staying here." Indigo sat down. "I don't want to walk around this creepy place more then necessary."  
  
"Ashstar, you should probably come with us. We need you to open the doors."  
  
"We're staying here." Reimia and Tashi stood defiantly. "As it is, this whole thing has become a little too weird. We're with Indigo on this."  
  
"So Reimia, Tashi, Indigo, and Kotake will stay here...what about you, Nick?" Atelli turned to her cousin, who flinched. He looked awkwardly at Reimia and Tashi.  
  
"I don't know...I haven't seen Ella E in a while...I guess I should come..."  
  
"So that makes Colt, Monty, Caleb, Me, Nick, and Ashstar that are going to keep going." Atelli finished her list.   
  
"How will you find your way back?" Reimia raised an interesting point. The group that wished to continue paused for a moment.  
  
"Caleb, you still got that pencil?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"Caleb can mark the walls as we go along, that way we can find our way back." Colt smiled. Caleb shrugged.  
  
"I guess that could work."  
  
"We'll see you guys later, then..." Indigo waved. "Good luck with finding Drak, Ella E, and Mewtwo."  
  
"We're going to need it..." Colt mumbled as their group slowly split, one group hiding themselves among the eerily glowing tubes, the other walking towards the door. Ashstar placed her hand against it, spoke briefly, and the door slid halfway open. Then they were gone.  
  
~~~  
  
"You have to promise me you won't hurt them." Drak was desperatly trying to find anyway to spare the two who had become his friends.  
  
"I don't have to promise you anything." Dr. Kagakusha sighed again. "You don't seem to understand that you're powerless right now. Come on."  
  
Drak felt something tingling in the back of his mind, something important and familiar, but he couldn't identify what it was. As much as he tried to rid himself of it, it kept niggling at him.  
  
He took a step forward, his fists clenched.  
  
"Good, you're finally understanding. I didn't think it would take you this long. What about you, Dr. Dowasure? What do YOU think?" she spoke cruelly towards the scientist, who was still petrified with fear. Michelle kept a tight grasp on his wrists. Dr. Dowasure's eyes were closed tight, evidently he was trying to shut out the outside world.  
  
"Can't even talk anymore. Stupid man." Dr. Kagakusha closed her eyes and sighed again.  
  
There seemed to be a slight popping noise from the other side of the room, as if a circuit had exploded. Dr. Kagakusha turned in that direction urgently, staring at the door. The touch pad beside it had lost all it's illumination, sparking gently. The tingling in the back of Drak's mind became stronger. He knew what it was trying to tell him.   
  
It was angry. Very angry.   
  
Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, it struck him. He knew what it was.  
  
The sliding door slid to one side to reveal what seemed like a mass of violet-blue energy.  
  
"Gabriella-" Dr. Kagakusha never finished her statement. The energy rocketed across the room, causing a sound much like an explosion, knocking Drak, Teishi, and Dr. Kagakusha to their feet. Michelle was sent flying across the room into the wall, although she gave no cry of pain. Dr. Dowasure, abruptly freed from the creature's grasp, fell roughly to the floor with a surprised gasp. Gabriella flapped her wings, attempting to gain altitude, but another powerful surge of energy knocked her away, freeing Ella E, who fell limp to the floor. Drak tried to stand, but found his limp coming back painfully strong. He cursed the incredibly inopportune timing.  
Slowly, through the residue of energy, walked a single form. Although walk may not have been the correct term...Drak could tell that his feet did not touch the floor. He smiled brightly.  
  
A quiet, authorative, and incredibly dangerous voice spoke, it's words laced with a strange accent. "Stay th' &%$@ away from them."  
  
"You!" Dr. Kagakusha stood quickly, glaring at the form. "I knew you'd come to their rescue. This is exactly like I thought. Michelle, Gabriella, incapacitate him."  
  
The two creatures stood slowly. One of Michelle's wings hung limp on her back, broken from the impact with the wall. They began walking.  
  
Cyrus walked to Drak, grabbing his arm and pulling him upwards roughly. He glared at Dr. Kagakusha, his eyes flaring brightly.  
  
"Yer little toys can't hurt me, lady. Maybe B's too weak for 'em, but 'm stronger then B. Much stronger. Now stay th' &%$@ away."  
  
"Cyrus, I told you to leave! What are you doing here?" Drak called, confused.  
  
Cyrus focused on the two who were studying him intently.  
  
"Savin' yer @%&, kid!"  
  
Gabriella spread her still functioning wings and used the wall for leverage, pushing off of it and running towards Cyrus, her claws extended. She still made no sound. Cyrus roughly pushed Drak to one side, his other hand flaring with bright energy. As Gabriella passed, he sent the energy towards her, causing her to fall to one side, breathing heavily.   
  
Michelle ran towards Dr. Dowasure, who managed to finally jump to his feet. Unsure of what to do, he ran towards Cyrus, who looked at him with hatred.  
  
"What th' &%$@ you think yer doin', Doc!? Get out of th' way!"  
  
Cyrus roughly shoved Dr. Dowasure to one side, nearly knocking him into Drak, as Michelle leapt for the Doctor's back. Cyrus's eyes flared brightly and she was knocked back, her body smoking. Cyrus turned to Dr. Dowasure, who was smiling brightly, his confidence having returned.  
  
"What th' &%$@'s yer problem, Doc? What were you tryin' to do?"  
  
"Technically, you're the safest person to be near. Therefore..."  
  
"God! Yer a &%$@in' moron!" Cyrus shouted at Dr. Dowasure, who simply seemed relieved to be free from the grasp of the two, who made no movements whatsoever.  
  
"You are a fool." Dr. Kagakusha smirked gently. Cyrus whirled to face her. She pointed near his ankle, where Drak could see a thick line of scars and cuts, but no electric anket. Drak wondered what Cyrus had exactly done in his desperation to remove the emitter. "Even though you may have removed that precaution, I have a weapon that you can't surpass. One you can't defend against."  
  
"Stay th' &%$@ away from me!" Cyrus shouted angrily at her as she walked towards him. She had the predatory look in her eyes again.  
  
"It's all very simple, C." Dr. Kagakusha kept walking closer, causing Cyrus to take a step back, almost against his will. "You can't fight me anymore. You know why?"  
  
"Get away, you god@#$%ed %&@#$." Cyrus stared at her angrily, his voice shaking. Drak could see his hands trembling...with what he could tell was fear and rage. It suddenly dawned on him He knew what she was talking about now...why Cyrus couldn't fight against her. Drak tried to stand, but his leg refused to respond. Finally, Teishi seemed to emerge from his emotionless facade. He kneeled down next to Drak, placing his hand on his shoulder. He had a look of concern, one that as welcome to Drak after the strange emotionlessness that he had while Dr. Kagakusha was talking.  
  
"Sir, your limp...are you okay?"  
  
"It should pass." Drak spoke distractedly. Dr. Kagakusha continued advancing on Cyrus, who was taking small, stumbling steps backward, near to where Drak, Dr. Dowasure, and Teishi crouched against the wall.  
  
"Because when I look at you, you cringe. When I speak, you back away from me. Why? Because you're afraid of me now, C. Even if you won't admit it, you're afraid of me, terrified of me. Because of what I did to you."  
  
"SHUT TH' &%$@ UP!" Cyrus shouted angrily. He was slowly retreating from her, although it made him furious to do so. She simply walked slowly closer, continuing to move towards him until he was backed against a wall, only a few feet away from where the three were sitting. She raised a hand and watched as he cringed away from her, frustration and hatred showing on his face for doing so.  
  
"Even my touch scares you now. I knew this would happen. You're too predictable. That was why I did it, you know. Because now I have power even over you, who thought you were so powerful. You're nothing now."  
  
"Cyrus! Don't listen to her! She's playing with your mind! Fight back! Fight her!" Drak cried, but he knew it was useless. The trauma to Cyrus' mind had been too great and although it was tearing him apart inside, he could not bring himself to touch her. The thought reviled and terrified him, but he fought his inner war, trying to overcome his fear. All his muscles tensed, but he could do nothing. The instinctual fear had taken him over and he could not fight against it.  
  
"Since you seem to care so much for those three over there, C, I think I'll take care of them in front of you. I'll kill the boy, take the Doctor and Drak, and leave you here, paralyzed under your own weakness." She turned away from him, leaving Cyrus trembling from the intense stress he had been under at being so close to her. He tried to move towards her, but found his body would not respond. He narrowed his eyes.  
  
"Don't you &%$@in' touch them, you %&@#$!"  
  
Teishi had not realized that, in sitting beside Drak instead of behind, he no longer had a shield. Drak noticed her movements swiftly, but before he could speak Dr. Kagakusha swiftly aimed the shotgun at Teishi.  
  
"You can't stop me."  
  
The shotgun went off with a deafening sound. Drak, not sure of what posessed him, saw that the blast was aiming directly for Teishi's chest. He could see fear on Teishi's face, in his eyes. He wasn't sure what told him to do what he was doing. There was some inner instinct that forced him to do it...he turned and pushed Teishi roughly, knocking him clear from the intended blast.  
  
However, there was now a new target that had taken the previous one's place.   
  
Drak felt the bullets tear into the right side of his chest. He looked at the wound and made a short noise of both surprise and pain, unable to believe nor understand what had just happened. He fell to the ground silently.  
  
"Sir!" Teishi's voice was laced with pain. He knelt next to his fallen master, crying furiously, trying to think of a way to stop the bleeding. "Sir, sir, why? Why did you do that...why did...why...sir...SIR! Answer me!"  
  
"You..." Cyrus stared at Dr. Kagakusha, who seemed as surprised as everyone else. She looked at Drak in shock and anger.  
  
"That was unintended...I needed him intact. Why did he move in the way...stupid boy-"  
  
"YOU GOD@#$% &%$@IN' %&@#$! 'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Cyrus shouted, utter fury raging through him. She turned to him, as if confused, apparently not expecting such a strong reaction that was not of fear. Cyrus felt fear as she stared at him again, but he felt incredible rage countering it. The two forces fought in his mind, causing the fire to lessen slightly...  
  
His friend...the only person who ever called him friend...the only person he ever called friend...the only person who even remotely cared about him...that he remotely cared about...  
  
"If you get hurt, I swear...I swear I will find th' $#@&er who did it an' kill them. I promise..."  
  
Thoughts and voices raced through his head, each demanding full attention and presenting a solution. But Cyrus only found one solution. His own.  
  
His eyes flared brightly, so much so that Dr. Kagakusha closed her eyes briefly from the intensity of the light. A massive aura of violet-blue light flared around his body, like some kind of unholy flame. Dr. Dowasure covered his eyes with one of his sleeves, but Teishi was far too distracted to even care.  
  
Dr. Kagakusha wisely decided that her presence in the room was no longer desired and decided to make a swift exit. She ran for the door that had been opened by Cyrus, while Cyrus tried to control his intense rage long enough to actually do something with it. The pure intensity of the feeling, the incredible power that had overflowed his body, had overwhelmed him and had allowed Dr. Kagakusha the few precious moments she needed. As he extended his hands towards her, sending the furious energy racing across the room, she was running down the hall outside as fast as she could. The explosion rocked into the wall, but he knew that he had missed her.   
  
He had failed.   
  
Cyrus cursed rapidly, mainly at himself for his moment of weakness.  
  
"Drak! Drak! Wake up!" Dr. Dowasure shook the young boy furiously, whose eyes were half-open, yet seeing nothing. He was bleeding heavily from the wounds on his chest. "I think he's going to die...he's going to die..." Dr. Dowasure also seemed near tears. "This is all my fault..."  
  
"How's he doin'?" Cyrus finally calmed down enough to kneel with the others. They looked at him helplessly. Cyrus stared into Drak's half-open eyes.  
  
"Kid...kid, can you hear me? Kid? #%@$ kid, you can't die...yer too important. Don't you know that? C'mon kid..."  
  
"He...pushed me out of the way...I don't understand..." Teishi was crying constantly, tears flowing from his emerald eyes. "Why...he knew he'd get hurt...why did he do that...why did he care enough to do something like that...why..."  
  
"I don't think he'll last much longer...this looks very serious..." Dr. Dowasure rummaged through his pockets. His voice was shaky. "I don't know what we can do, I don't think I have anything to help him now...I'm not sure what we can do...I can't believe this happened..."  
  
Drak seemed to awaken for a moment, his eyes fluttering. The others stared at him, surprised.   
  
"Sorry..." he mumbled, a tickle of blood coming from his mouth. "Teishi...I'm sorry...I guess I...won't take you out...of here..."  
  
"Kid! Kid, don't talk like that!" Cyrus seemed to be channeling what should have been sadness into anger. Drak tried to look at him, but his head wouldn't move under his own power anymore.  
  
"Sorry...we won't go...there...together, Cy..."  
  
"@#$% it, you can't die, kid! You can't! I won't let you, god@#$% it!" Cyrus furiously grabbed Drak's shoulders. Drak looked briefly at Dr. Dowasure, his head having turned that way.  
  
"Sorry...for makin' you...feel guilty 'bout this..."  
  
"Drak...why are you doing this? Don't you know you're going to die?" Dr. Dowasure was staring at Drak in confusion, tears building in his eyes. "Why are you sorry...it was our fault..."  
  
Drak tried to speak for a moment, but only coughed, a slight splatter of blood appearing on the metal tile below him.  
  
"@#$% you, wake up! God-&%$@in'-@#$% it, kid, don't you die!" Cyrus shook him roughly, but Drak only closed his eyes. "#%@$! #%@$, open yer @#$% eyes!" Cyrus shouted angrily, but sadness was taking his fury away. His eyes softened. "Don't..."  
  
"...Cyrus..." Dr. Dowasure spoke softly. "I think he's..."  
  
"Oh sir..." Teishi rubbed at his own eyes. Cyrus looked at the limp form in his hands with a mixture of sadness and confusion. His eyes narrowed with determination and anger momentarily.  
  
"@#$% you, kid, I ain't lettin' you go!" Cyrus retreated his bloody hands and his eyes lit briefly.  
  
Drak wasn't sure exactly what was happening. At first, all he could feel was pain. But now the pain was fading, much like everything in his vision. Everything was becoming very numb...he wasn't sure where he was. He wasn't sure what he said when he thought that he spoke. He finally just closed his eyes and let the blackness overcome him, hoping to find some kind of respite in wherever he was going. 


	15. Beyond

Chapter 29  
  
"Beyond"  
  
  
Am I...dead...  
  
Where am I...  
  
What happened to me...  
  
Am I...am I....  
  
Drak opened his eyes slowly, bracing himself for the sudden brightness that comes after a long sleep. He found there was almost no change in his surroundings whether or not he had his eyes closed or not. He sat up, if he was sitting, and looked around. This also proved useless, as there was nothing to see. He looked at himself, but could see nothing. He tried to speak, but he wasn't even sure he had a mouth.  
  
What happened...  
  
Where am I...?  
  
Drak felt as if the questions were somehow being transmitted without his voice to whoever might hear them. He was beginning to feel frightened. Was this death? Was he dead? Would this be what it was like to be dead for eternity?  
  
If it was, it was a big disappointment. If he had died, this was not what he had expected at all. He wished he knew where he was and what had happened. He wish that he could see clearly. He wanted to speak. He wanted to live again.  
  
He thought briefly. Was Teishi safe? He hoped so. He was sobered by the thought that if he had died, Teishi might feel some kind of guilt. He hoped that Teishi wouldn't feel guilty for him. After all, it wasn't his fault. It was Drak's.  
  
He wondered briefly. Was the same voice that told him to push Teishi out of the way the same one that spoke to him before, telling him to share in Cyrus' pain? Who was that voice...was it him speaking to himself?  
  
He wished he could feel anything.  
  
Slowly, a small speck of light glimmered a few feet away from him. Even in the dim light, Drak could finally see parts of his body. He was overjoyed to find he had a body, but soon began to wonder where exactly he was.  
  
The speck of light grew in intensity, pulsing violet and blue alternatly. Slowly it took the form of Cyrus, sitting and staring at him.  
  
"Thank goodness someone else is here...where am I?" Drak was glad to find a friend in this dark place. Cyrus shrugged and looked at him critically.  
  
"This's yer head, kid. Just came in here to see if I could help you...I don't know where this is, tho'."  
  
"Am I dead?"  
  
"I sure hope not, kid." Cyrus waved a hand and a cigarette appeared in his hand. He sucked deeply on it and exhaled slowly. He sighed. "God, I needed that."  
  
"If I'm not dead, then what is this? A near-death experience?"  
  
"Beats me, kid. I don't have a #%&# clue."  
  
"If this is a near-death experience...shouldn't my parents and my family and friends be here talking to me?"  
  
Cyrus looked at him. "Yer family and friends ain't psychic, kid. So 'm th' only one here."  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"I dunno...I was desperate...god, kid, you scared me. I thought you were dead. Thank god yer here..."  
  
"How bad was I shot?"  
  
"Pretty god-#%&# *%#%in' bad, 'kay kid? God, I need a drink..."  
  
"How did I survive?"  
  
"You haven't yet, kid. Yer on th' brink, really."  
  
"So I can decide?"  
  
"I doubt that, kid. I don't think you got a choice...I said you were bad, an' I meant it."  
  
"If you knew I was going to die, why are you here?"  
  
Cyrus sighed deeply. "I thought I could help or somethin'. I dunno...maybe I wanted to say goodbye...god, 'm depressin' myself..." Cyrus waved a hand and a small glass appeared in his hand. He downed it swiftly, and it disappeared.  
  
"What do I do?"  
  
"Well, you can't die. I won't let you die kid, no way. There's got to be somethin' we can do."  
  
"I don't know what I can do. I can't just will myself back to life."  
  
"Well, if you give up, you really WILL die."  
  
Drak awkwardly walked towards Cyrus, almost tripping on his way there. His leg had regained all it's functioning...he could walk normally. His limp was gone. He wasn't prepared for this and it ruined his equilibrium. What worried him more, however, was why it was gone. Cyrus simply watched him silently. He came and sat next to Cyrus, noting that they were sitting on someplace solid, although all Drak could see other then the softly glowing Cyrus was darkness. Perhaps he was sitting on darkness. He couldn't tell.  
  
"I don't want to die."  
  
"Then why th' @$%# d'you do that, kid? That was so *%#%in' stupid, honestly..."  
  
"I don't know...it was an urge."  
  
Cyrus scoffed at this. "That urge's goin' to get you killed, kid."  
  
"Is Teishi okay?"  
  
"Yeah, he's fine. He was cryin' up a *%#%in' storm tho' when I last saw him."  
  
"He was crying?"  
  
"Oh yeah, kid. He kept talkin' to himself...I think you *%#%ed up his head a little...what was that word th' lady used...traumatize, I think. He kept askin' 'Why did he do that' over an' over an' that #@$%. Depressin' stuff."  
  
Drak looked down for a moment, pausing before speaking. "I don't want him to feel bad about me."  
  
"Well, too *%#%in' bad, kid. He cares about you too much to not care. You know that, right kid? Even th' Doc looked kinda sad..."  
  
"Dr. Dowasure?"  
  
"Yeah...he said it was his fault too. God, everyone thinks everythin' 's their fault."  
  
Drak looked at Cyrus, noticing that Cyrus never directly looked at him. "Do you think it was your fault?"  
  
Cyrus sighed. "I shouldn't a' left, kid. I could've done somethin'. So I guess it was kinda my fault too."  
  
"It was better that you left anyway. How did you get that emitter off?"  
  
"How th' @$%# do you think? I got some of those rocks around th' cave an' beat th' #@$% out of it. Got my foot pretty bad tho'."  
  
"You shouldn't hurt yourself deliberatly like that, Cyrus." Drak looked at Cyrus's foot, where he could see the tracery of cuts and scabs tracing around his ankle. Cyrus made a scoffing noice and turned away.  
  
"Pff, I needed th' #%&# thin' off. It was buggin' th' #@$% out of me."  
  
"Why did you do that?"  
  
"Kid..."  
  
Cyrus looked down, smoke wafting from between his lips slowly. It was fairly obvious to the two they were no longer talking about Cyrus' methods of removing the emitter. "kid, I...I couldn't...I couldn't jus'...just run 'way like before..."  
  
"You came back for me? I told you to leave!" Drak felt offended that Cyrus had deliberatly ignored his request at the risk of his own safety. Cyrus had evidentally anticipated this.  
  
"Hey, I saved yer @&$, kid. If it weren't for me, you'd be with th' lady gettin' yer head *%#%ed around with an' stuff."  
  
"You shouldn't have come back."  
  
"Well, excuse me for carin', you *%#%in' moron!" Cyrus breathed out heavily, letting the smoke float towards wherever the top of this strange location was located. Drak stared at him, noticing the gentle glow that was enamanating from him. When he looked down at his own hands, he found they had no light.   
  
"Why are you glowing?"  
  
"Hmm?" Cyrus looked up, not sure what he was saying. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Look...I'm not glowing at all. But you're glowing pretty bright."  
  
Cyrus placed a hand on Drak's shoulder and nearly toppled over as his hand passed through the boy with no resistance. He recoiled sharply.  
  
"Kid..."  
  
"I'm becoming insubstantial..." Drak strangely did not find himself worried in the least. In fact, he felt quite peaceful. He had never felt this relaxed in a long time. "That's why I don't glow..." He wanted to close his eyes and fade away. But Cyrus was not about to let that happen.  
  
"Kid! KID! 'M *%#%in' talkin' to you! Don't close yer eyes! Look at me! Don't let it get you!"  
Drak felt even lighter as he let loose more of his worries. This must be what it is like to truly die. It certainly was peaceful. Why was he frightened of it...  
  
Cyrus tried futiley to grab onto Drak as he began to fade from existence.  
  
"No! NO! I won't let you! I won't *%#%in' let you!" he shouted angrily, but Drak found that Cyrus' voice came from far away. It did not disturb his peaceful thoughts in the least. he was beyond his voice or his actions...he was beyond everything...  
  
He was letting the last fragments of his mind slip away when an image appeared in front of him, painfully clear and poignant. The voice was thin and ethereal, almost too low to be heard, but now Drak found he wanted to listen. The voice seemed to be frightened and sorrowful, soft and wary, as if awaiting some kind of harsh words.  
  
"...Please don't, sir, please please. Don't leave me here alone. You're the only person I've ever met who cared. Please, sir, don't go." Teishi's tearful face stared at him. He could hear his own voice, more confident and sure then Teishi's replying.  
  
"You didn't let me finish. I didn't say I was leaving. I just said that I was going to take Cyrus out."  
  
He could see Teishi's face lit up, something that came very rarely. Teishi seemed to be overjoyed...it was strange how this memory was clearer, and yet hazier then it used to be here...  
  
He tried to join his swiftly dissiapiating mind back together in order to better relive his memories and found the task of becoming corporeal far more difficult then it had to become insubstantial.  
  
"You aren't leaving? Thank you, sir!"  
  
Drak for a moment thought that Teishi was speaking to him until he realized that it was only his memory. He saw Teishi's face lose its momentary brightness and again the green eyes clouded over with tears.  
  
"If you ever leave this place, please...take me with you."   
  
Drak remembered what he had promised Teishi as a single tear rolled down the younger boy's cheek. Drak could tell Teishi was trying to control his emotions as he spoke, to stop from bursting into tears...why didn't he notice this before? A tear fell from Teishi's other eye and soon they were falling continously.  
  
"Take me with you, wherever you go." Teishi's voice bore into him, forcing him to think of what he had done.   
  
"I don't care where, just anywhere other then here and near you." He had promised Teishi that he would take him out of this place...and instead he had...  
  
"I swear, I'll do whatever you want." He had just left Teishi...with no one, with nothing...only the guilt of his death upon him. He had not freed Teishi at all...he had just left him more burdened then before. Shame for himself and anger for his own state rose in Drak, causing his form to become more solid as his emotions became stronger. It seemed to be a visible effort for Teishi to speak his last words, which Drak mouthed along to silently.   
  
"Just don't leave me in this dark place."   
  
After which, his memory faded away as Teishi began to sob. Drak clenched a fist, or at least felt like he did, and stared forward. He tried to force more of his body to come back together, but found the last few pieces resisting him stubbornly.  
  
His thoughts reached within him. Ella E...he could not leave Ella E...he would not leave her...he had almost died for her before...but he wasn't going to die now! Her spectral voice filled his mind, calling his name. He was going to answer and he focused his efforts in one last burst.  
  
He felt what seemed like weights all over him as he regained his solid form. Cyrus grabbed his hand roughly, not realizing that he had become substantial again. Drak winced.  
  
"Sorry, kid. Didn't know..."  
  
"Cyrus..." Drak could feel some dark force pulling at him. As he felt it tugging at his heart, he realized it was the force's claws that had tried to pull him apart and remove all thoughts of his life. The subtle approach apparently hadn't worked and now it was trying to direct approach. "I don't think I can hang on much longer...something is calling me..."  
  
"What th' *%#% are you talkin' about? You ain't goin' to die, kid!"  
  
Drak tried to get closer to Cyrus, but found his hands becoming lighter and lighter as something began to pull him away. "I'm sorry..." he again felt little emotion, but he tried to fight against the euphoria that he had experienced before. "I'm sorry Cyrus, I tried, I really did try...but I...I can't...I can't fight...this..."  
  
Just don't leave me in this dark place...  
  
Don't leave me here alone. You're the only person I've ever met who cared. Please, sir, don't go...  
  
Drak, do you want the hallway...It shouldn't be that bad, considering where you've stayed most of your life....  
  
The window's broken! Where's Drak?!  
  
Drak wondered whether or not he was truly crying or whether he just felt like he was, given the current state of his body. He held out a hand, something that took a great deal of effort. Cyrus again tried to grab it, but his hands passed through his uselessly.  
  
Drak's voice became more and more like air as he felt himself becoming less and less solid. "I'm...sorry...tell...Ella E...I'm...sorry..."  
  
"NO!" Cyrus shouted angrily, his eyes flashing. "'M goin' to find a way to get you free! Fight as long as you can, kid! Give it #@$%! 'll be back!"  
  
With a brilliant flare of light which caused the darkness to subside slightly, Cyrus was gone. Drak managed to turn himself around, not sure of what he was facing. But he couldn't let everyone down...He could no let himself die. He cared too much about the others to let himself die...  
  
He tried to push himself away from the undefined maw, but this was only a minor distraction and it was known to both Drak and the entity, if that is what it may be classified as, that the struggles would eventually come to naught.  
  
~~~  
  
Cyrus eyes flickered open and he blinked momentarily, realizing he was back where he had been. Teishi was still crying, apparently it was beyond his control to stop his tears. Dr. Dowasure was trying desperatly to staunch the bleeding in some kind of effort to prolong Drak's life.  
  
"How long has it been?" Cyrus asked urgently. The other two looked at him.  
  
"Only a few minutes..." Dr. Dowasure stared at him. "What happened? Is he okay?"  
  
"No..." Cyrus shook his head, staring at Drak's limp form, his eyes closed. "He ain't okay, that's for sure. Somethin's tryin' to grab him."  
  
"Something...?" Dr. Dowasure looked thoughtful. "But that's...impossible..."  
  
Cyrus continued to stare at Drak's form and felt something on the edge of his mind. It wasn't the kid...he couldn't quite see or comprehend it clearly, but he was fairly sure he heard the sound of a Mew, as if in pain, and a flash of blue. He knew who it was immediately. No doubt it was looking for Drak.   
  
Anger filled Cyrus at the helplessness that he had in the situation. He pressed his hands to the clump of bandages that Dr. Dowasure had applied over the wound, not sure of what he could do. He tried to stop the blood, but found it kept flowing through the bandage and marking his hands. Anger, sadness, and an incredibly feeling of being alone overtook Cyrus and he glared at Drak.  
  
"You can't...I won't let you..."  
  
In response to the distress he was feeling, he could feel his power rising within him. It was a natural reflex that when someone is feeling upset that they summon their defenses or some way to alleviate it, and Cyrus summoned his powers, although he was not sure what they could do. He could see his hands glowing his violet-blue color as blood continued to seep through the thin covering.  
  
"...'m not goin' to let you..."  
  
He let his power flow over Drak, although he did not know what it could do. It was only a release from the stress of keeping it under control. He could not believe he was sitting here...the blood of his only friend on his hands...he could have stopped her...if he hadn't been such a coward...if he hadn't been so weak...he could have done something...he should have done something...  
  
And now his only friend was dying...and there was still nothing he could do. He was going to be alone again...alone for the rest of his life, however short that may be. He had failed...and it was his fault.  
  
A small crystal landed on Drak's shirt, sliding down the bloody fabric to land on the floor. This was followed by two more as Cyrus tried to control his frustration and desperation as he desperatly tried to find some way to do something.  
  
"Please kid...you can't leave us...you can't leave us alone..."  
  
He didn't care that the others were staring at him. He didn't care about anything. He just wanted Drak alive. He wanted it with his entire soul, if he had one. He wanted the only person who had even remotely tried to understand him back.  
  
More and more of his energy had been building along with his tears and these both flowed freely as they grew stronger. He didn't care if he exhausted his entire body. He had to do SOMEthing.  
Dr. Dowasure looked amazed at Drak's body, watching the shimmering light pulse around him.  
  
"If I recall correctly..." he stared forward, adjusting his glasses. "M-2 Specimen B had the ability to recover it's health...the move Recover..."  
  
Cyrus didn't care that the blood was fading from the bandages. He was already lost in his emotions, as he had been before. He couldn't do anything but continue sending his power over Drak's inert body.  
  
Dr. Dowasure removed the bandages slowly, revealing the rapidly healing gunshot wound. "This is...incredible."  
  
~~~  
  
Drak wished he could fight somehow. The thing that was taking him wherever he was going seemed to be sucking all willpower and emotions from him. He knew he should feel something...regret, sadness maybe. But there was only emptiness. There was no euphoria as before...just a vague sense of the feeling that he SHOULD be doing something. He wondered whether he should feel guilty for not feeling anything and found this emotion was also beyond him. He wished he could feel something, something to make him want to fight.  
  
He felt whatever he was fighting against recede, slowly, as if something else was fighting it. Drak thanked it, but wasn't sure exactly why as he didn't feel grateful. The dark claws or tentacles or perhaps just dark matter that had been encircling him began to fade and feelings began to come back to him. Quickly and urgently.  
  
He remembered what he had to do at once. He had to live...he couldn't leave everyone alone. He had to survive, somehow.  
  
While whatever it was fought with whatever the other thing was, Drak tried to get away from the two combatants. More emotion and thought came to him the further away he floated from the raging battle behind him. He remembered everything. He felt everything. It felt wonderful.  
  
He looked at his hands and could see a small pulse beginning beneath his skin. It grew stronger and Drak could see that his hands were glowing softly. He smiled.  
  
~~~  
  
"Please..."  
  
Cyrus pressed against Drak's chest roughly, trying to get Drak to resume breathing. He gasped out the only word that would come to his fevered mind.  
  
"Please..."  
  
Teishi sat near Drak's body, holding his hand tightly and trying with all his heart to feel a heartbeat.  
  
"Please..."  
  
Dr. Dowasure observed everything carefully, staring at Drak's face for any signs of movement.  
  
"Please..." another crystal fell from Cyrus' eyes, hitting Drak's shirt softly as Cyrus' voice faded to a whisper. "Please..."  
  
"Sir..." Teishi continued holding Drak's hand. Tears continued to flow from his eyes, which suddenly widened. "Sir...I can feel something..."  
  
Thump...  
  
Thump...  
  
"It's his heart! I can hear his heart!" Teishi exclaimed, his joy mingling with his sadness, which increased his tears. "He's alive!"  
  
Cyrus sat back quickly, staring at his bloodied hands in surprise. Dr. Dowasure placed a hand over Drak's heart and withdrew it quickly.  
  
"Yes, his heart is beating again..."  
  
Drak's chest slowly began to move as he resumed breathing and he coughed violently. Teishi quickly pulled him into a sitting position waiting for the coughing fit to pass. He patted Drak on the back gently until he finally regained his breath and Drak sat up and blinked, looking at his surroundings.  
  
"I'm..."  
  
"Sir!" Teishi threw his arms around Drak, sobbing hysterically. "You're alive, thank anything almighty sir, you're alive! Don't ever do that again!"  
  
"But how am I..." Drak was still shocked to find himself in the living world again. Dr. Dowasure adjusted his glasses, his customary smile back in place.  
  
"I'm not sure myself, really, and I was watching!" he laughed, relieved. "I should have wrote it down, but I forgot in the emotion of the moment..."  
  
Drak's eyes focused on Cyrus, who still looked dumbfounded. "You...you did it, didn't you?"  
  
"#@$%!" Cyrus exclaimed in surprise, stil staring at his hands. "#@$%! That was...that was *%#%in'...jus' *%#%in' *%#%ed' up! How th' *%#% did I DO that?"  
  
"You...you saved me." Drak stared at Cyrus, who was still muttering to himself. He finally looked at Drak. He seemed to remember there were other people around.  
  
"#@$%, that was a...a *%#%in' accident, kid." Cyrus sounded incredibly hesitant.  
  
Drak could see a glimmer near him and he reached down slowly. He held up a perfectly round crystal, removed from a small pile near where he had been lying. He smiled as it glimmered in the light.  
  
"Hmm...Cyrus, you were crying."  
  
"I was not!" Cyrus said angrily. Drak could see a slight tinge of red forming near Cyrus' narrow cheeks. "I don't cry, kid! Not ever!"  
  
Drak ignored the obvious falsehood of this statement. "And now you're blushing."  
  
Cyrus stood up angrily and limped away, crossing his arms and muttering sullenly to himself. "*%#%, I save yer *%#%in' life an' what do I get? *%#% mockery..."  
  
Drak decided to leave Cyrus by himself for a moment and still turned to the wildly crying Teishi. "Teishi, I'm okay...really, I am. You're choking me."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir." Teishi mumbled. Drak pulled Teishi's arms off him. Teishi did not protest. "It's just...I really thought you were going to die, sir. I really did. You were bleeding so bad..."  
  
Drak was about to say something when Teishi apparently remembered something first. He looked sternly at Drak.  
  
"Why did you do that, sir?"  
  
"Do what?" Drak noticed that Dr. Dowasure was writing everything down, as usual, on his sleeve. He even found this slightly comforting, as a sign he was back in the real world.  
  
"Push me out of the way, sir. You knew I was going to get shot, didn't you? And you knew you would too, didn't you, sir? Why did you do something like that?"  
  
Drak looked off to one side, focusing his eyes on the small crystal droplet he held in his hand. He noticed that Cyrus had seperated himself completly from the three and was now investigating the body of Michelle. "I don't know...it was an urge, really. I can't explain it."  
  
"It was a stupid thing to do, sir!" Teishi said angrily, causing Drak to stare at him in surprise. Teishi looked both angry and sad at the same time. "No one should ever get hurt because of me! Do you know how it feels? I was almost responsible for your death, sir! I...everyone would have blamed me...I...I'm not worth your death at all. You shouldn't do anything for me, I'm not important enough, sir."  
  
"Of course you're important, Teishi. You're a human being. Every human being is important."  
  
"Not me. Not me." Teishi shook his head, the same emotionless voice and expression he had before. "You never should have done that, sir. You should have let me die...then maybe you and C..." Teishi spoke Cyrus' "name" with mild distaste. "could have escaped without trouble."  
  
"Well, I'm alive, aren't I? We all are. I think that's a victory." Drak stared at Teishi, wondering how Teishi could keep such an impassive face with what he was discussing. Teishi shook his head slowly.  
  
"You shouldn't ever get attached to people like me, sir. We aren't worth your trouble. We certainly aren't worth your life."  
  
"You remind me of Radic." Drak smiled, standing unsteadily on his feet. Noticing the pile of crystals, he slowly picked them up and placed them in one of his pockets, not sure of exactly why. Dr. Dowasure stood as well, watching to make sure that Drak did not stumble. Teishi remained sitting, staring at Drak confused. Drak smiled slightly. "He's Ella E's cousin...he always had this self-esteem problem...practically the only one who could snap him out of it was Red."  
  
Teishi slowly stood, saying nothing. There seemed to be some kind of hidden resentment in Teishi for Drak risking his life for him, but Drak could also see his gratitude, no matter how he tried to hide it. Drak's statement suddenly brought back memories.  
  
"Ella E! Oh...oh, where is she?" Drak looked around urgently. "Where could she have gone? Ella E!"  
  
"Bad news, kid." Cyrus walked over, dragging along the unconscious form of Michelle. He threw her down where she remained motionless. "There's only one of th' *%#%er's. Th' girl's gone too."  
  
Drak's heart fell. "Ella E? She's gone?"  
  
Cyrus shrugged. "'Fraid so, kid. No sign of her. No sign of th' *%#%in' lady or that other thin'. My guess's it got Ella E while we were busy with you an' went wherever th' *%#%in' lady is."  
  
Drak would have collapsed if it hadn't been for Teishi's support. "Ella E...in the hands of that woman...this is all my fault...why did she come here?"  
  
"She wanted to help you, kid, that's *%#%in' obvious." Cyrus turned his odd eyes to the doorway where he had entered, where the smoking panel was still emitting sparks. "She jus' didn't know what she was up against."  
  
"We have to get her back!" Drak clenched his fist resolutely. "We have to find her! We can't let Dr. Kagakusha do anything to her!"  
  
"I think I have an idea where she could have gone." Dr. Dowasure looked thoughtful. "I think it's one of the number-pad locked rooms. I was never given access to those. But I'm sure C could-"  
  
"Cyrus." Drak said automatically.  
  
"I'm sure he could break through any barriers we come across." Dr. Dowasure smiled brightly. Cyrus rolled his eyes.  
  
"Oh..." Drak was hit by a sudden realization. "What if she brought the others? Colt, Monty, Caleb...they could be in trouble as well...We have to look for them...if they're here."  
  
"Don't worry, kid." Cyrus thought back to the momentary glimpse he had had of the blue Mew. "'M sure they're here somewhere an' 'm sure they're lookin' just as hard for you." He placed his hand on Drak's shoulder. "Even B."  
  
"Mewtwo..." Drak looked at himself, thinking hard. He tried to open his usual mental link with Mewtwo and found, for once, a small resonance of a response. This brightened his spirits immensely and he opened his eyes, the glow fading from them. He clenched a fist. "We have to find them, no matter what."  
  
While they were walking out of the room, Teishi grabbed Drak's arm gently.  
  
"May I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure. What is it?"  
  
"You saved my life...I don't know how I can repay you." Teishi looked off to one side. "I still don't think you should have done it, but there has to something I can do."  
  
"Hmm..." Drak thought momentarily. "How about you stop calling me Sir?"  
  
"I told you, it's a habit, I can't-"  
  
"Isn't there anything else you can say? Something with my name in it?"  
  
"Um...I think...Drak-sama would work, wouldn't it?"  
  
"Sounds better then sir, anyway. Thanks, Teishi."  
  
"No, thank you..." Teishi seemed to be fighting some kind of inner battle over whether or not he should say 'thank you'..."But..." Teishi paused for a moment. 'But, Drak-sama, promise me that you won't risk your life ever again. It's too important."  
  
Drak was happy at hearing Teishi say his name, no matter what form it was in. He smiled at the younger boy. "I'll risk my life for a good cause, like for you or for someone else. I'm not afraid of death."  
  
Teishi closed his eyes. "I think you should be, Drak-sama. I really do." 


	16. Intersection

Chapter 30  
  
"Intersection"  
  
  
"Where are we now?"  
  
"I don't know..." Colt cautiously looked down the next corridor, ducking back quickly. "I don't think we're any closer to Ella E though..."  
  
"What was that explosion? Did anyone else hear that gunshot?" Atelli looked around cautiously. "I hope nothing bad has happened to anyone."  
  
"I don't know what the explosion was..." Colt gestured for the others to follow him, signaling that the coast was clear. Since the explosion that had rocked the structure, they had expressed the utmost caution in moving about the laboratory. It reminded them rather painfully that they weren't supposed to be free and moving about. "But the gunshot is a definite bad sign."  
  
Caleb kept his pencil pressed to the walls automatically, having gotten used to his hand in that position. The steady trail of grey that followed was a comfort to everyone.  
  
Ashstar had opened so many doors she was getting rather proficient at it. She refused to answer any questions regarding it and when she had to open a door, she would do it as quickly and quietly as possible.  
  
"Do you think that explosion came from where Ella E is?" Ashstar mused outloud. The others looked at her.   
  
"Why would there be an explosion?"  
  
"I don't know...but we don't have anywhere else to go, really...there has to be something there that can help us find her."  
  
"No way, I don't want to get any closer to an explosion if possible." Monty smirked to himself. "Those things can kill you, you know."  
  
"Well, what other option do we have? We've been wandering around for what feels like hours and we haven't gotten any closer! We don't really have a choice! It feels like we're just going down deeper and deeper!"  
  
Colt sighed. "She is right, we don't really have a choice. But where did it come from? It faded long ago."  
  
"Maybe..." Ashstar pressed her hand against the wall. Her eyes widened briefly.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"That wasn't an ordinary explosion..." she mumbled. "It was from something powerful...like Mewtwo or something."  
  
"That's not possible! Mewtwo wouldn't blow up anything..." Colt paused, reconsidering his statement. "Well, why would he?"  
  
"Maybe he found Drak." Nick said softly. Everyone was surprised to hear the quiet boy speak. He had barely spoken a word since they're journey began. The others thought on his words.  
  
"I can track this though..." Ashstar began walking back the way they had came. "We can make it there, I think."  
  
Colt shrugged and followed. Monty was the last to go, but in the end he reluctantly sighed and ran slightly to join with the others.  
  
They hadn't walked very far when they heard someone coming up behind them.  
  
Colt swore momentarily. "I thought this would happen!" his eyes darted back and forth, finally resting on a nearby door. He shoved Ashstar to it roughly. He hissed urgently. "Open it!"  
  
Ashstar tried to remember the words she should say and found that she couldn't. She could hear footsteps and a faint voice coming up quickly from behind them.  
  
"Come on, Ashstar! What's taking so long!?" Atelli almost struck the door herself, but realized the noise that would make.  
  
"I'm trying! I'm trying!" The words came to her in a flash and she mumbled the few words as quickly as possible. The door slid jerkily open. Instantly there was a scramble to get inside.  
As soon as they were within the room, Ashstar tried to close the door. It screeched angrily in protest and stopped within an inch closing. She was trying to get the door to close fully when Colt grabbed her hands and pulled them back roughly, gesturing with his head towards the hallway. The footsteps and voice were only a few feet away. She stopped struggling as the group clung together, hoping that whoever it was that was passing by would not notice the open door.  
  
"Listen to that!" An angry female voice said. "The doors are all malfunctioning, no doubt to what happened upstairs...ergh, curse the day that M-2 Specimen C ever walked out of here alive!"  
There was a strange rumbling sound, as if in assent. As the sounds came closer, it became more apparent that only one sounded as if it came from a human. The other sounded like something with scales and claws was walking along next to her.  
  
"I can't let them leave this place alive...that would cost me my job...I'm not going to lose MY position over this stupid experiment!" The female voice sounded furious. "I am assigned to this project until it's completion! There is no other option."  
  
The female voice was much closer now. The footsteps stopped and it seemed to sound as if the female had turned to her companion. They were directly in front of the door now and the blockage of light from their feet caused flickering patterns to be thrown on those closest to the door.  
  
"Do you hear me? I won't get fired because of this! I will complete this project, no matter what the cost!"  
  
"What of the girl?" the second finally spoke, it's voice sounding hollow and emotionless, echoing about the huddled groups ears. There seemed almost to be collective shudder throughout the hidden. The female paused.  
  
"She's still a hostage...I'm sure we can use her to get him out of hiding."  
  
Colt looked alarmed for a moment and mouthed "Ella E" to the rest of his group, who nodded. There was a rustling from the second figure, as if something leathery was moving around. Since there seemed to be no response, the angry female voice began again.  
  
"I NEED that boy, Gabriella! There is no room for failure in this experiment...not only would it prove bad for my career, but the consequences should the subject's injections be imperfect are terrifying...It could mean the end of this lab, of this island...perhaps of this world."  
  
There seemed to be a slight sound of surprise from the person known as Gabriella.  
  
"That thing's power is incredible and we need to keep it under control...under no circumstances should anything happen to it! I MUST have those two! You MUST bring them to me, Gabriella. I need you to do this."  
  
"What of the girl?" Gabriella asked again, her tone the exact same as before. The female again paused.  
  
"You may store her where E is."  
  
"What of Michelle?" The same emotionless tone. Another pause.  
  
"If you find her with them, feel free to take her with you. You may only look for her, however, after you find the two and bring them to me."  
  
"Do you need all those with them?"  
  
"No. Dr. Dowasure...bring Dr. Dowasure to Prof. Denka. Make up some story about some stupid thing he's done...Prof. Denka will make sure that Dr. Dowasure won't do anything for a long time." The voice laughed harshly. "I've seen him lecture that stupid man for hours on end. Teishi, however...Teishi can be killed. I just need C and..." there was a slight pause before she spoke. "Drak." There was a collective glance by the group. "Feel free to do whatever you like to Teishi, just make sure he's dead and his body is hidden before continuing."  
  
Ashstar gasped involuntarily at the thought of murder, turning slightly pale.  
  
The two paused and the group could hear them turning towards the door. They glared at Ashstar, who was looking incredibly uncomfortable.  
  
"What was that?" Gabriella's voice spoke.  
  
"I didn't hear anything."  
  
"I heard a gasp."  
  
"You're not imagining things, are you?"  
  
"The door is open."  
  
There was a slight pause and group hidden in the door way held their breath. Monty stood silently and pressed himself against the wall, trying to get as far away from the door as possible. Atelli soon followed suit, allowing the others a chance to back further away from the opening. There were slight scuffling noises as Nick, panicked, scrambled backwards, his sneakers scraping gently against the floor.  
  
"Hmm..."  
  
"I heard movement."  
  
"Fine, if you want to look so badly, I'll open the door." The female voice said irritably and came closer. The terrified group could see slender fingers wrap around the edge of the door. There was a slight sound of effort and the fingers left.  
  
"The door's stuck."  
  
"Let me try."  
  
Nick closed his eyes, trying to keep from crying out. The group pressed as closely together as possible, collectively trembling and holding their breath in hopes they wouldn't be found. The terror they felt seemed mainly to come at the prospect of seeing Gabriella, although Ashstar felt hatred instead of fear, but this did not reduce the rate of her trembling.  
  
Thin, claw like fingers wrapped around the door, sharp claws shining from the tips.   
  
"Give me a moment. I do not wish to remove the door if possible, but rather slide it back. I need to think as to how I can do this with the minimal amount of damage." Gabriella's voice echoed into the room. The other voice sighed in exasperation.  
  
"We've wasted enough time as it is...It was probably some things shifting from the aftermath of the explosion."  
  
"I heard-"  
  
"I don't care!" The female voice said angrily. "Come with me and take the girl with you. You can leave her in the lab and then you can get the boy and C."  
  
There was a slight pause. "Yes, Doctor Kagakusha. I will do as you ask."  
  
There was a silence among the group until the two walked away. Then Monty was the first to speak.  
  
"That scared about five years of my life out of me." He stretched, speaking softly. "I can't believe we weren't just caught."  
  
"That's her!" Colt did not look out, worried that the two may spot him. "That's the woman that was conducting the experiment, isn't it?"  
  
Monty finished stretching, rubbing his arms. "Yup, Dr. Kagakusha. She's the one who did that to Kame."  
  
"And she's going to do something to Drak and Ella E if we don't stop her! And someone could DIE!" Nick sounded frightened. "We have to do something!"  
  
"Monty!" Atelli looked at the boy. "I just...I just remembered. Some of those files we saw were those names. Don't you remember?"  
  
"Um..." Monty scratched his head.  
  
"Dowasure was one of them! Teishi was too, and so was Gabriella! We could have known about this before, if we only looked..." Atelli sounded very frustrated at herself. "Why didn't we look? Things could have been different..."  
  
"Well, what can we do?" Caleb tried to pull the door open, but it was lodged firmly shut. The only opening that was readily available to the hallway was the gap between the door and the wall. "We certainly can't follow Dr. Kagakusha...Gabriella would know we were there in a second."  
  
"Maybe she was headed from the explosion."  
  
Ashstar sighed. "Well...now, there's no time to waste. We have to find the others as fast as possible." She placed her hand on the wall. "I think there's a door on the other side of this room..."  
  
Nick gasped momentarily. "The others! We left the others in the lab!"  
  
Before this could sink in properly, there were more footsteps, these faint, but fast. Instantly the group retreated to their previous positions, waiting for them to pass by.  
  
There were more footsteps now...It seemed as though there were three. One sounded as if they weren't wearing shoes, one seemed to have a limp, and the other shuffled slightly. Closing their eyes in hopes that reinforcements hadn't come to find them, the group remained silent.  
  
Monty kept his eyes on the bottom of the door as the three passed by. One shadow flickered through the bottom light, then two. Three...four?  
  
Monty shook his head and held his breath. The footsteps did not halt however and continued down the hall, running frantically.  
  
There was no movement until the steps were gone completly.  
  
"Thank goodness...I can't take much more of this." Ashstar brushed a hand across her forehead. "We need to get out of here before someone else comes."  
  
"That's...I could have sworn I saw..." Monty mumbled to himself. He shook his head. "No...I would have heard something..."  
  
"What are you talking about, Monty?" Colt looked at him curiously. Monty shrugged and kept silent. Ashstar trailed her hand on the wall as she walked towards the end of the small room, another door awaiting them. She sighed, placed her hand against the door, and mumbled. The door slid easily and in a few moments the journey was resumed, the group heading for where the explosion had came from.  
  
~~~  
  
There weren't many places to hide where Reimia, Tashi, Indigo, and Kotake waited. The only place where they could really stay out of sight was between the tubes that were placed on the wall, and no one wanted to get near those tubes unless they absolutly had to. There was something that felt very wrong about the tubes and some inner sense of preservation kept them away from them.  
It had quickly become boring waiting in the room, although Kotake never seemed to be bored with constantly pleading with her sister to wake up and weeping copiously, but Reimia and Tashi were prepared. They had both brought out a deck of cards, one red, one blue, at the exact same moment. Shuffling the two decks together, they had dealt them out according to the rules of "Fork", a popular card game, using one of Indigo's hairclips as a replacement for the fork they needed.  
  
Of course, Reimia and Tashi both used a rigged deck and much confusion ensued when both Reimia, Tashi, and Indigo got the exact same hand. Also, it was slightly difficult for Reimia to play with only one functioning hand, but the simple game managed to amuse them while they waited.  
There wasn't much talking. Indigo was, by nature, a rather quiet person. Reimia and Tashi weren't about to tell their life story to anyone in hopes of starting a conversation, which at the moment seemed like the only way to keep a conversation from turning into a repitition of mono-syllabic words, and Kotake was far too busy conversing with her sister and crying to be talked to. As it was, the four were generally loners to begin with, with the exception of Reimia and Tashi, who felt the most comfortable talking to eachother, and the lack of speech or laughter did not overly bother them.  
  
The eerie green light still remained the only illumination, but after spending so much time in the room, the four got used to it. At least, they got used to it as much as possible. The room still remained mainly dark to them. And the fact they could see did not lessen the frightening affect of the solitary green glow that permeated everything.  
  
Reimia was about to declare that he had a "optimist's lucky hand" and swipe the "fork" when there were sounds of footsteps. The game was immediatly put on hold as the three players stopped what they were doing.  
  
"You don't think that's..." Indigo looked towards the corner of the room. The room bent at an 'L' shaped angle, so the door they had come in through was not visible in the least. Kotake sniffed away some of her tears and looked at the others, confused.  
  
"Someone's coming...we have to hide." Reimia stood quickly, grabbing the cards and the fork. He ushered the others into one of the gaps between the tubes, this one between Kame and the tube to her right. As soon as they had squeezed in as much as possible, Tashi glared angrily at her brother.  
  
"I would have won that round, you know."  
  
"That's not really important right now." Indigo rolled her eyes. Reimia kept trying to find a suitable place to put his hand, but found the stone limb was being incredibly annoying. No matter where he seemed to put it, it was poking someone. No one was happy with this.  
  
"Sure. I had an...um...Optimist's lucky hand. You can't beat that." Reimia kept the debate going in whispers. Tashi looked angry.  
  
"Oh yeah? Well I had...uh...the Pessimist's depression hand." Tashi met her brother's lie with as much ease as he had to create it. Reimia rolled his eyes.  
  
"You just made that up."  
  
"Like the "Optimist's lucky hand' is any more believable?"  
  
"Shh! Someone's coming in!" Indigo put a finger to her lips.  
  
Sure enough, there was the sound of the door swishing open. The group instantly became silent, realizing at once the urgency of the situation. Someone in sneakers, or at least, that's what it sounded like, walked about. There were some noises, as if someone was rifling through some papers, then the sound of a computer starting was heard.  
  
"Where should I put the girl?" The voice was faint and far away, but it still had it's effect, and a shudder ran through the four. They could not explain why.  
  
"Just put her anywhere, it doesn't matter. As long as she doesn't go anywhere." The other voice was more commanding.  
  
"Should I place her in one of the capsules?"  
  
There was a slight pause. "Say, there's an idea. Go ahead. They're all empty anyway, it shouldn't be hard to find one. I'll open a new file for her and see if she's got anything interesting to contribute to the project."  
  
Although the four were used to the lighting of the room, the figure that walked around the corner was still too shadowy to make out clearly, which was most likely for the better. There was one unsettling feature about the shadowy figure, which were the large lumps near it's shoulders, but other then that, the figure was too far away to discern clearly. Indigo was struck with a vague sense of Deja Vu and found that both Reimia and Tashi were suffering similiarly. The only one who didn't seem to suffer from the feeling was Kotake. No one could completely explain why.   
  
The larger figure were dragging along another figure behind them, this one smaller. The larger figure went to one of the tubes in the wall, touched it, then placed the smaller person inside.  
  
"That person got it open! Do you think they'll let Kame out?" Kotake whispered. The spell of silence over the group was broken suddenly.  
  
"Shh!" Reimia hissed. The shadowy figure turned towards their hiding place, where the four quickly ducked their heads.  
  
"Think it saw us?"  
  
"Stop talking!"  
  
There were sounds as if the figure was walking towards them. The four waited in fear, not sure of whether or not the figure would get close enough to find them.  
  
"Gabriella, come here! I need you to do something for me."  
  
The figure reluctantly turned and went around the corner again. The four softly breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Hmm...Let's see, I think we've got her connected to the database...ah! Here we go..."  
  
The other was obviously not interested. "What do you wish of me?"  
  
"Hmm...Find those two I need. This is getting more and more urgent...I can't keep E under stasis for much longer."  
  
"Yes, Doctor Kagakusha."  
  
There was the sound of the door again.  
  
"It's that horrible...woman! She did this to my sister!" Kotake could barely control her rage. Reimia refused to let Kotake free of their hiding place, although she desperatly wanted to go and confront Dr. Kagakusha of exactly what she thought of her experiment.  
  
"You can't do anything to her now! Remember, if she dies, Kame could die too. We have to wait and see what happens."  
  
The woman was, at the time, talking to herself. She sighed sadly at first.  
  
"Hmm...sometimes, even I have my doubts." Her voice was barely audible to the four. "I don't know if we're really doing the right thing sometimes...it's one thing to create hybrids of Pokémon and humans...but to rob them of their free will..."  
  
There was an angry noise and the sound of a fist hitting something. Her voice took on a angrier edge.  
  
"What are you talking about? We don't ask questions...Pokémon have always been there for the use of humans...why should we feel guilty? We just do our job, and we do it well. You've never questioned your orders before, not even when he told us to..." the woman's voice seemed to quaver, as if she was shuddering. Her voice again changed tone, becoming quieter. "told us to...to..." The voice became angry again. "I hate C! I hate him now and I'll always hate him, but..." again the softer voice. "But even doing that to him...I think that was...too cruel..."  
Then there was the sound of resolution again, the harsher voice coming again. "I can't...I don't question my orders. I just follow them. Remember that, Hana. You aren't here for morals or ethics anymore, you knew that when you took this job."  
  
The group shared a glance. It was apparent that the woman was having some kind of inner struggle, but they could not understand what she was talking about. Or who she was talking to.  
  
"There are no more 'ethics' and 'morals' for me....It doesn't matter whether it's right or not....I only have to keep my job. That's all I can do and all I HAVE to do...there's no time for regrets now, Hana. No, there's no chance. Regrets are for the weak, but we're not weak, are we? No, we're strong...but..." The voice softened again. "But when we had to...had to..."  
There was a choke in the woman's voice which was quickly swallowed, the angry voice speaking again. This time it was slightly shivery. "Look at us now. Heh, no regrets, Hana. No regrets at all. You start regretting all we've done wrong and you won't stop crying until you die. I've done far too much wrong to feel bad about it now. I may as well try and forget about it. Just focus on the experiments, nothing else." The voice softened. "But is that really it, Namida? Is it...I don't know anymore...maybe this isn't the right thing to do at all..." The voice abruptly grew harsher, but this time more confused. "There is no more right and wrong! There never was! This's what we're here for, Kagakusha Namida Hana, and that's what we're going to do! No more questions. Let's see...maybe some music can clear our thoughts..."  
  
There were vague sounds of someone moving about, then muffled music began to play.  
  
"Kagakusha..." Indigo looked towards where the music was coming from.  
  
"If there's any chance we can get out of this room, it would be now." Reimia made a fist with his flesh hand. "She wouldn't notice us leaving with those headphones on."  
  
"How do you know she's wearing headphones?"  
  
"Remember how loud it was when Atelli set off the music before? This is a lot more muffled...I bet she has on headphones really loud. This is the chance to get out of here!"  
  
"We can't leave Kame alone...and that other girl too! We can't just leave them here! We have to get them out!"  
  
"But how? There's no way to open these things!" Tashi slapped the side of the tube as if emphasizing her point. "We can't do anything!"  
  
"Can we make Dr. Kagakusha open the tubes?"  
  
"I doubt it...I don't think we can make her do anything. I mean, she had that thing with her." Tashi shivered. "What if it comes back?"  
  
"Maybe we should just wait here and see what happens. Maybe when Kame is released, we can help her. We can't do anything if we're captured again or running away." Indigo looked around. "We might as well stay put."  
  
"I won't leave my sister..." Kotake had a look of grim determination on her face. "I won't leave her ever again. This is my fault...even if Kame isn't Kame anymore, I won't leave her behind. I'm going to help her! I'm going to get my sister back, I swear. I promise you..." Kotake looked at those sitting around her. "That by the end of this whole thing, Kame will be back to normal and we'll be Gym leaders again. Kame and Kotake, Pewter City Gym Leaders! I promise you!"  
  
"Kotake..." Indigo stared at the girl in surprise. She had never heard her speak with such a definitive tone. It was unlike the silent, submissive girl. For once, Kotake's eyes were dry.  
  
They could barely hear the swishing of the door over the music. There was a slight shout of shock, then heavy breathing.  
  
"Gabriella, don't sneak up on me when I have my headphones on!"  
  
"I have them."  
  
"You do? This is gr-...wait a minute...what are the other two doing here?"  
  
"I could not find Professor Denka, Doctor Kagakusha. The boy would not let me touch Teishi. I decided I would come to you."  
  
"This complicates things..."  
  
"I'm not doing anything!" An angry voice came, this one male. "I'm not going along with your sick plans!"  
  
"Yes you are." The female voice sounded bored. It was the harsh voice that had spoken before. "And so are you, and there's nothing you can do about it."  
  
"Bite me, %$&$#." Another voice spoke, this one even rougher then the others. There was a tutting noise.  
  
"There's that language again."  
  
"Where's Ella E? We followed you here, you must have her somewhere! Release her this instant!" The younger male voice spoke again. The hidden group exchanged glances. Although only Reimia and Tashi knew Drak, it was obvious that it had to be him.  
  
"If you want her, she's over there." There was a slight pause, then an angry gasp.  
  
"Let her out of that thing right now right now!"  
  
"Hmm...I'm the only one who can let her out. I could select a number of chemicals to inject into her from my computer...I could kill her right now. But I'm willing to let her go, if you'll just do this quietly.."  
  
"You *%#%in' %$&$#! *%#% you!" The other voice spoke.  
  
"I'm tired of this meaningless argument. You don't realize how important the two of you are. I need you to co-operate or else the results would be..." She paused.  
  
"What? What are you talking about?"  
  
"I've said too much already." Kagakusha seemed to try and change the subject. "I don't ask that much of the two of you. Simply step into those two capsules on the wall. I will release her after I have got what I need."  
  
"Why do you want me so badly?" Drak's voice rang clearly. There was a slight laugh and the cruel edge was back in Kagakusha's voice. She seemed to ignore his question.  
  
"Are you going to comply without a struggle? It would be a lot easier. You could save all of your friends some pain."  
  
There was a slight pause, and then Drak spoke again. "You must promise to not harm Teishi or Ella E."  
  
This time there was a long pause.  
  
"Do you think she's going to do it?" Tashi barely whispered to her brother. He sighed softly.  
  
"I don't know...I don't know whether we want her to, considering what it could mean for Kame..."  
  
"Doctor Kagakusha..." Gabriella's voice came again. "I have brought you what you asked. May I search for Michelle?"  
  
"Hmm...stay here for a while, Gabriella. I just need you to watch them all for me...what about you, C? Will you go?"  
  
"Give me one good *%#%in' reason not to kill you right now." The angrier voice spoke slowly, the words laced with hate.  
  
"You try and I'll kill Ella E. Your friend would never recover. Do you really want a death on your conscious?"  
  
"If it's yers, I don't *%#%in' give a $#^@."  
  
"Are you going to do it? I need to know as soon as possible. You have to decide."  
  
"I'm not deciding until you tell me whether or not Teishi and Ella E are going to be safe!" Drak's voice came again.   
  
Another pause. Finally Kagakusha replied, her voice softer. "Fine. If you'll go along with this, they won't be harmed."  
  
"Kid..."  
  
"Cyrus, we have to do this." Reimia could see a figure turning the corner, walking forward. It was a woman. He could not see her quite clearly, however. "We can't let anyone get hurt...and it probably won't hurt us at all."  
  
Following the woman came five more figures, one of them the one they had seen previously, Gabriella. The tallest turned to one of the smaller.  
  
"&%*# you kid, if you didn't care so *%#%in' much..."  
  
"I'm sorry, Cyrus." Drak, the smaller figure replied. "But I can't let anything happen to Ella E."  
  
"Here." The woman, Kagakusha, stopped in front of the wall, placing her hands on two tubes. "Just step into these."  
  
Drak was the first to enter. He gingerly stepped into the tube and the hissing sound of the glass closing was audible. Kagakusha then turned to the one identified as Cyrus, who paused for a few moments. Then, swearing the whole time, he entered one of the tubes as well.  
  
"What about these two?" Gabriella still held the other two figures by their wrists. Reimia could see light glinting off of one of the figures' glasses.  
  
"Well, I suppose we can't hurt them now...just watch them for a moment. I need to access the computer so we can finally finish the project."  
  
Gabriella released the two figures. The smallest of them instantly moved in front of where they had seen Drak disappear, while the other backed away against the wall.  
  
"They're going to destroy Kame's mind!" Kotake whispered fearfully. "They're going to finish her! What do we do? What CAN we do?"  
  
"I don't know..." Reimia ducked his head as he saw Gabriella glancing in their direction again. "I don't know what we CAN do...on one hand, if we let her finish the experiment, then Kame's mind is completely gone. However..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard her mention Kame's instability...if it doesn't finish, what if Kame just goes insane and begins destroying everything? What if Kame just DIES?"  
  
"What can we do?"  
  
"Let's wait until Gabriella leaves before trying anything..." Tashi peeked around the tube again, finding Gabriella was nowhere to be seen. "Maybe we can convince Kagakusha to do something to stop this."  
  
"Do you hear something?" Kotake looked frightened. "Anyone else hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?"  
  
"It sounded like...almost like wings..."  
  
The four looked up at the same moment.  
  
"Doctor Kagakusha, there are intruders." Gabriella's strange voice called, her wings blocking the way out of their hiding place. 


	17. Completion

Chapter 31  
  
"Completion"  
  
  
Colt was the first to notice the shattered door in the hallway. There were blackened areas spreading from the doorjam, as if it had been burned, and there were still sparks flying from the broken panel, electricity constantly being sent to it.  
  
"I think this is where the explosion came from." He smirked, walking into the room. He tried to avoid the sparks that kept flying from the panel.   
  
The doorway led to a large, empty room. It looked as if it had been a storage room at some point. The group walked inside, peering about cautiously. There was a general air of violence and danger in the room and it made everyone uneasy.  
  
"I don't see anything here..." Atelli looked around.  
  
"This is where it all started."Ashstar closed her eyes. "This is definitly where the explosion took place. I'm positive."  
  
"There isn't anything here! This was a dead-end." Monty sighed and crossed his arms. "I knew we shouldn't have followed this."  
  
Caleb was investigating the floor. He walked back to the others, holding something in his hand. "I found something strange. Look."  
  
It was a perfectly round crystal. The others stared at it in confusion.  
  
"Why would this be here?" Atelli took the crystal carefully. "This seems like the most unlikely place for something like this to be."  
  
Ashstar took the crystal herself, holding it for a few seconds. She closed her eyes. "This isn't what it appears to be..." She finally said.  
  
"Then what is it?" Colt asked exasperatedly.  
  
"I'm not sure...but this is no ordinary crystal...there's something strange about it."  
  
"Over here!" Nick called. The quiet boy had been exploring while the others were speaking. "I found something..."  
  
The others quickly joined him, staring at the floor. Their comments came quick and fast.  
  
"Blood."  
  
"But from who?"  
  
"There seems to be a lot of it..."  
  
"I hope no one was killed."  
  
"This probably came from that gunshot."  
  
"Where did they go from here?"  
  
"They couldn't have gone far."  
  
"I know they were here, I know they were. This is where it happened."  
  
There was a muffled noise from the doorway, causing the group to turn in fear. A small, fluffy white and gold creature fluttered into the room.  
  
"Gencey!"  
  
"Eclipse!" Those who knew the Pokémon sighed in relief. "Where's Mewtwo?"  
  
"Gen gen..." Eclipse pointed behind her. After she said this, the Mewtwo walked out from the darkness in the corridor, dragging something along with him. His limp was acting up badly. His face was also set in a grim expression.  
  
"Have you seen any sign of Drak?" his telepathic voice again spoke to all of them.  
  
"No, we haven't. Have you?"  
  
"I know he's here...I'm just not close enough to establish a link with him. I also sensed another presence, but it blocked me out fairly quickly."  
  
"What do you have there?" Monty walked forward curiously. The Mewtwo dragged his cargo forward roughly, throwing it down.  
  
"I found her in the hallway. She was trying to go somewhere, but didn't quite make it. She passed out."  
  
"It's that thing." Ashstar glared at Michelle with hatred. The creature was bleeding from several places, had burn marks over the majority of her body, and one of her wings remained limp and useless."She didn't die...that's too bad."  
  
"Have you found anything?" The Mewtwo left his burden where it lay and walked towards the group. They instantly felt safer with the Mewtwo in their midst. Eclipse took her customary post on top of the Mewtwo's head, seemingly unconcerned with everything around it.  
  
"Blood, but we're not sure whose it is."  
  
The Mewtwo knelt, placing one of his paws in the puddle. He brought it to his nose, sniffing gently.   
  
"It's Drak's. I can tell."  
  
This started a flurry of worried conversation. The Mewtwo silenced it with a wave of his paw.  
  
"This doesn't mean Drak is dead. He could very well be alive somewhere. If he died, I'm sure that I would have died as well. All we can do now is try and locate him."  
  
"So this was a big waste of time." Monty said sulkily. "We came here for nothing."  
  
"Not quite nothing." Caleb pointed out. "After all, we found Mewtwo. That's a good thing in itself."  
  
"There's also the problem of that thing over there."  
  
"Didn't Gabriella say she wanted to find her? What if she comes looking for her?" Caleb wondered idly to himself. Ashstar clenched a fist angrily.  
  
"I say we kill her, right now."  
  
The group looked at the silver-haired girl in surprise. "What?"  
  
"I say we kill that horrible abomination right this instant, before it kills us."  
  
"You can't be serious..." Atelli laughed nervously. She found that Ashstar did not laugh with her.  
  
"I know it in my soul. That creature is pure evil, there isn't a shred of compassion in it's body. It would kill for the sheer joy of it."  
  
"Isn't that how others described YOU?" Atelli angrily replied, trying to break her out of her fury. "I think you just hate her for some reason. She can't hurt us now, she's unconscious." This caused Ashstar to pause.  
  
"She's right. Don't let your hate control you." Colt said softly. Ashstar laughed bitterly at him.  
  
"You should talk."  
  
Colt blushed angrily as Atelli looked at the Mewtwo. "Can you help us find Drak and Ella E?"  
  
"I think I can trace them, but it's fairly risky business...I can barely sense them at all...I may be mislead by other psychic remnants...." His voice came softly into their minds.  
  
"What about her?" Ashstar continued to glare at the prone form lying near the door, the wings spread uselessly about her body.  
  
"We might as well leave her here. She can't hurt anyone." Atelli noticed the protest that was forthcoming from Ashstar. "And I have a feeling that without the other one, she's harmless."  
  
"I think you're wrong." Ashstar hissed under her breath. "But there's no other option. I can only hope you're right."  
  
~~~  
  
Teishi watched Drak cautiously through the glass, keeping his hands pressed against it. He was sure that Drak remained conscious, as he kept peering about him, confused to where he was. Teishi wondered whether or not those inside the capsule could see those without. At any rate, he would watch carefully, lest some harm come to him. He would not allow anyone to hurt Drak.  
  
"Intruders?" Dr. Kagakusha walked near him and on instinct Teishi shied away from her. He had long learned to keep away from the violent, unpredictable woman. "Where? How?"  
  
"They were hiding here, Doctor Kagakusha. Perhaps they got in while you were listening to your music." Gabriella easily held Reima and Tashi with one large hand and Indigo and Kotake with the other. "Should I kill them?"  
  
Fear and anger gave Kotake energy. "You horrible woman, you did that to my sister! Don't you understand how much she means to me? To everyone? You're taking away everything that was Kame! How could you!?"  
  
Dr. Kagakusha looked at the dark-haired girl for a few moments, as if thinking. She then snapped her fingers. "Kotake, correct? It's understandable you would find your way here somehow." She then turned from Kotake, apparently done. "What about you three, however? How and why are you here?"  
  
Reimia and Tashi would have done their motto, had they been free to do so. "Reimia and Tashi, proud members of Team Rocket."  
  
"And why are you here?"  
  
Reimia wondered whether or not he should lie. Tashi answered the question for him. "We want this experiment of yours. It could be invaluable for Team Rocket's plans. We're on direct orders."  
  
Indigo and Kotake looked at her in confusion, Kotake being the first to speak. "What are you talking about? How dare you speak of my sister as some kind of thing!"  
  
Dr. Kagakusha narrowed her eyes. "Evidentally I can't trust you two. The 'R's should have made that obvious. And you..." She turned to the last remaining member of those who had been left behind. "...haven't I seen you before?"  
  
Indigo found no use in lying. "I trained under Anubis, the psychic gym leader."  
  
"Hmm...vague recollection, but nothing of interest. What's your name?"  
  
"Indigo." She spoke quietly. Dr. Kagakusha's eyes widened.  
  
"Indigo? Not as in the Indigo family that owns the plateau?"  
  
"The same." Indigo narrowed her eyes, secretly pleased that someone had finally remembered her. "Do you really want to kill me now?"  
  
Dr. Kagakusha muttered under her breath for a few moments. "I can't kill you without causing some kind of fuss among the Indigo's...curse it all. The others are expendable, however."  
  
Gabriella released Indigo and lifted Kotake easily by the neck with her free hand. Kotake choked slightly. Then Dr. Kagakusha noticed Reimia's arm.  
  
"What happened there, boy?"  
  
"I'm not telling YOU." Reimia spat at her, resentful of his deformity. She didn't back away, however, only staring curiously at the appendage.  
  
"A stone arm...that's very peculiar. Hmm...place him in one of the capsules, he may become useful."  
  
Gabriella silently turned, walking towards one of the tubes. She touched it with her wingtip and the glass slid to one side.  
  
"Reimia! You can't do this to him!" Tashi cried out angrily. "Let him go!"  
  
"Your brother, I assume. It doesn't really matter to me."  
  
Tashi tried to fight against Gabriella's inexorable grip to reach her brother, but found it pointless. "Let my brother go this minute! Reimia! Reimia, fight back!" Tashi's eyes wandered to Teishi, sitting only a short distance away. "You! Kid! Why don't you help us! Please, help us!"  
  
Teishi only stared in fear. Dr. Kagakusha, as if noticing Teishi for the first time, kicked him rather harshly, although this was unnecessary. Teishi would not have moved.  
  
"Stop! Stop it! Please, help! Help us!" Tashi continued to try and stop Gabriella but it was useless.  
  
Teishi only watched impassively. He did not react nor seem to care about the injury he had sustained from being kicked. Reimia tried as hard as he could to avoid being locked in the tube, but in the end his struggles were meaningless. The glass slid shut over him, blocking all his cries of protest.  
  
"NO!" Tashi tried to reach for her brother, but Gabriella pulled her arm painfully, bringing her back level with Dr. Kagakusha. "You horrible woman!"  
  
Dr. Kagakusha shrugged.  
  
Indigo, seizing her opportunity, lept at Gabriella from behind, attempting to kick her in the back. Gabriella was far too quick. Releasing her other prisoners, she whirled around, seizing Indigo's leg with one hand. With her other, she grabbed the fabric of Tashi's uniform before she could leap at Dr. Kagakusha. Holding them apart, she looked at Dr. Kagakusha impassively.  
  
"What shall I do with them?"  
  
Dr. Kagakusha gazed at Kotake with interest. "I think we should keep her alive, to see if her sister has truly lost what she was. The others are bothersome. Put them in stasis as well. I can dispose of them later."  
  
The two struggled the best they could, but could not fight against Gabriella's powerful, vise-like grip. As soon as they were locked away, Gabriella turned around again.  
  
"The Indigo?"  
  
"As long as she isn't hurt, they would have no quarrel with me."  
  
"What of her?" Gabriella looked at Kotake, who was cowering on the floor.  
  
"I don't think she'll go anywhere. You may leave now. Find Michelle and bring her back here as soon as possible."  
  
"Yes, Doctor Kagakusha." Gabriella spread her large wings and raised off the floor. She flew for the door so quickly she appeared to be a blur. Dr. Kagakusha turned around and began walking back for the computer.  
  
"You can't do this! This is-" Dr. Dowasure finally stood straight, attempting to intercept the woman. Anger flashed in her eyes as the man approached her. With a single movement she struck him to the ground. Holding his face, he stared at her in fright as she turned on him, fury evident on her face.  
  
"Don't tell me what to do anymore! I HAVE to complete this project and I WILL, regardless of the cost! Stay out of my way!"  
  
She turned and left, striding angrily across the room.  
  
"Are you okay, sir?" Teishi looked over at Dr. Dowasure, but did not approach him. He remained where he was, situated in front of Drak's tube.  
  
"I'll be fine, I think..." Dr. Dowasure rubbed his wound gently. He crawled and joined Teishi, staring at both Cyrus and Drak. "I'm worried about them, however..."  
  
The sounds of furious typing came across the corner.  
  
"Finally...it shouldn't have taken this long. This is getting hazardous as it is, which how long the transfer has been delayed unnecessarily."  
  
Teishi watched Drak closely, who seemed to be going into a drugged sleep. From the top of the tube he watched a small wire snake downwards, burying itself in Drak's neck.  
  
"Drak-sama!" Teishi watched him anxiously. Drak did not seem to be in any pain. When Teishi's green eyes wandered to Cyrus, he found that he had suffered similarly. He was not nearly as concerned for Cyrus.  
  
"Let's see...I'll combine the two of their genomes together..." There was more typing, incredibly fast. The green light from the tubes intensified, causing Dr. Dowasure to scoot backwards slightly. Teishi kept his hands on the glass, not wanting to remove them, in fear that something may happen if he did so. The frigid glass cause the feeling to flee from his hands, but he didn't care. He stared at the motionless boy inside with concern.  
  
"Please be okay, Drak-sama..."  
  
Dr. Dowasure had, however, moved to where Kame was stored, staring inside and writing furiously.  
  
"I had no idea...since when were we authorized to...?" Instead of his normal, interested look, he had one of pain and guilt. He glanced at Kotake, who was crying helplessly against the wall. "This is someone's sister...this is another living being...this is wrong..." He continued to write, unable to stop himself from doing so.  
  
There were some more keystrokes, then a definitive ending one. "The transfer has begun. The project will be complete."  
  
Instantly there was a change in Kame. Her tube began to grow brighter as the wires leading into her palms, thighs, and neck, began filling with a thick, reddish fluid. The creature inside jerked momentarily. Her arms grew thinner as what seemed to be muscle mass was leeched from them, distributed instead to her legs, which grew slowly.  
  
Dr. Kagakusha walked over to watch. She had a unreadable expression on her face. Dr. Dowasure was too distraught to notice her or to protest about what was going on.  
  
Kame's feet, which originally ended in what seemed like four, claw-like toes, bent backwards sharply at the ankle, much like that of a bird. The extra toe was absorbed into her foot as the remaining toes began to take on a more claw-like appearance. Her fingers melded into three, long claw like talons slowly. Her neck seemed to lengthen slightly and her skin became an even stronger bluish-purple tint. She jerked again, violently.  
  
"Stop! STOP!" Kotake ran forward, pressing her hands against the tube intensely. "Let her out! Make it stop! I want Kame back! I want my sister back!"  
  
"It's too late now." Dr. Kagakusha spoke with indecipherable emotion. "I can't stop it after it's started."  
  
Kotake glared hatefully at Dr. Kagakusha, unable to find other words to express her emotions under the stress she was suffering. As tears beaded in her eyes, she tried to find a way to show how she felt. "You...you...I hope you can sleep knowing what you've done to her! You've killed her!"  
  
Dr. Kagakusha simply returned her gaze to the tube, although there was a slight trace of regret in her eyes.  
  
Kame's ears lengthened, becoming pointed. Her eyes seemed to lengthen into narrow slits and her face became narrow and drawn. Her hair seemed to grow whiter by the moment, almost as if all color was being leeched from it to be distributed elsewhere. It also seemed to grow longer, as did her new fingers. From the tip of each of the fingers a small claw appeared, growing longer and sharper as seconds went by. As her arms became longer, she jerked again. Although Kame's eyes were closed, her mouth opened as if in some plea for help.  
  
"STOP!" Kotake screamed in anguish, tears flowing down her face. "KAAAMEEE!"  
  
The wires retracted back to where they had came quickly, wrenching themselves free from Kame's flesh. The claws on her fingers seemed to retract and her body stopped moving, almost like she had died, and she remained that way for a few moments, floating motionlessly in the liquid that held her in her prison.  
  
Slowly, her eyes opened.   
  
Gone were the eyes that Kotake once knew. Instead, there was a deep, reddish-purple color, the pupil's slitted like that of a cat. Kotake backed away in horror, unable to stop herself.   
  
The tube slowly slid open. The two doctor's backed away hurriedly as liquid flowed out upon the floor. Kame collapsed on the bottom of her prison, breathing in shaky gasps. At the same moment, the tubes holding Drak and Cyrus burst open, releasing their captives.   
  
Drak fell onto Teishi, who looked at him with worry.  
  
"Are you okay, Drak-sama? Is your neck okay?" Teishi touched where Drak had been pricked by the wire gently, but there was no injury.  
  
"I'm okay, Teishi, really. I don't remember what happened."  
  
"What th' $@#%..." Cyrus spoke from behind him, angrily. His eyes widened. "Oh @$^@."  
  
Drak could feel it as well. The awakening of some great power. "It's done...they completed it..."  
  
Kame slowly rose from the floor, stepping out uneasily onto the tile. She seemed wobbly on her new legs, but soon gained her balance. She straightened immediately, her hospital gown clung wetly to her skin, her only clothing. Her eyes stared straight forward, not seeing anything.  
Dr. Kagakusha was the first to speak and break the frightened, unnatural silence that had followed Kame's totally motionless as she stood at what seemed to be attention. "Who are you?"  
  
"I am M-2 Specimen E." Kame's voice seemed un-natural, emotionless and echoing.  
  
"What were you created for?"  
  
"Dr. Kagakusha-" Dr. Dowasure tried to speak, but Kame's response droned him out.  
  
"To serve my masters."  
  
"Who are your masters?"  
  
"Those who created me."  
  
"Kame! Kame! Oh Kame, what have they done!?" Kotake cried out, throwing herself at Kame. She threw her arms around her sister and sobbed. Kame did not react.  
  
"Do you know this person in front of you?" Dr. Kagakusha continued speaking, her voice almost as emotionless as Kame's.  
  
"No."  
  
"Kame!" Kotake spoke with horror, her tears glittering on her face. "Kame..."  
  
"Kill her."  
  
"No! Dr. Kagakusha!" Dr. Dowasure tried to raise, but was sent sprawling again by Dr. Kagakusha's hand. He gave a short cry of pain and fell silent, not sure of what he could do now. Dr. Kagakusha's expression didn't change.  
  
Kame wrapped one of her thin hands around Kotake's neck, raising her easily into the air. She held up another hand, inch-long claws springing from the tips of her three remaining fingers. They glittered green in the light from the room.  
  
"Kame..." Kotake sobbed, closing her eyes in pain as Kame tightened her grip. "Kame, don't you know me...I'm your sister, Kotake...we were twins...we were friends...we were leaders of the Pewter Gym...don't you remember me at all? Don't you know me? Don't you remember?"  
  
"No."  
  
Kotake held up one hand weakly, a small beaded bracelet hanging from it as she continued to sob through her words. "Kame, look...try and remember...you gave me this for my birthday. I gave one to you too...we had matching bracelets. Don't you remember? Please, remember me...I'm your sister...Kotake..."  
  
"I have no recollection of any Kame nor Kotake." Kame drew back her hand, which was without ornament, her claws shining. Kotake gave a heart-wrenching sob as Kame's emotionless voice kept speaking. "I am M-2 Specimen E. I have been ordered to kill you. You must die."  
  
"Kame...Kame, don't...don't you love me anymore?" Kotake voice cried out piercingly. Her tears dripped to the floor as she sobbed uncontrollably. Kame did not speak. Her hand flashed forward with frightening speed.  
  
Kotake screamed once.  
  
Kame dropped her to the floor, turning from the body of her dead sister.  
  
"Snap the bracelet." Dr. Kagakusha had her eyes closed.  
  
Kame, showing no emotion, raised her dead sister's wrist and tore the bracelet from it, the beads scattering across the floor.  
  
"Holy $@#%." Cyrus whispered.  
  
"What are your powers, E?" Dr. Kagakusha spoke quietly again.   
  
"In addition to psychic offensive and defensive powers, I can recreate previous pain in those who oppose me." Kame had the exact same emotionless voice, oblivious to the blood dripping from her hand, the blood that had also ran in her veins.  
  
Dr. Kagakusha thought for but a moment. "Do you see that boy over there?"  
  
"I see two." the same emotionless voice.  
  
"The blond one."  
  
Drak instantly moved in front of Teishi, who clung to him from behind, whimpering in fear. "You aren't hurting him!" He wasn't sure how on earth he could protect Teishi from this thing.  
  
Dr. Kagakusha kept her eyes closed as she spoke. "Show me your powers, E. Your target is the blond boy, Teishi." 


	18. Pain

Chapter 32  
  
"Pain"  
  
  
"Move out of my way." Kame's voice commanded. Drak felt fear rising within him, but he tried to ignore it. He could feel Teishi's hands from behind him, he could sense the fear from the silent, submissive boy, and this angered him. He was not going to let anyone hurt him anymore.  
  
"Get away from him!"  
  
"I would best suggest you move." Dr. Kagakusha seemed to be busily inspecting the tube that Kame had just left. "It would not be wise to make E angry. She killed her own sister. She could easily kill you."  
  
"I know...I know what she can do. But I won't let you hurt him."  
  
"You're being naive. It may not even kill Teishi. And here you are, acting almost as if you believe you could do something." Dr. Kagakusha did not look at anyone.  
  
"Drak-sama...maybe I should-"  
  
"No. You're not going to follow those orders anymore! You're not going to be ordered to your death, not as long as I'm around."  
  
Teishi's eyes softened. "Drak-sama..."  
  
Kame took one step forward, her eyes fixed on Drak. "If you do not allow me to complete my directive, I shall kill you."  
  
"I won't let you hurt him!" He spoke with more courage then he felt. "Teishi, stay behind me."  
  
"He has no protection behind you." Kame stopped, gazing steadily at Drak's eyes. Drak strove to keep his ground, fear and anxiety overloading his mind, causing him to want to flee. But as long as Teishi needed his help, he wouldn't run. Not anymore. "I could gain access to him easily."  
  
Kame pointed at him slowly. A slight aura began to glow around her, and she narrowed her eyes again.  
  
"What..." Teishi felt something coming over him. Frightened and desperate, he seized Drak's arm in a death grip. Drak turned towards Kame angrily.  
  
"Leave him alone!"  
  
"I must complete my command. There is no alternative."  
  
"Teishi, get out here! Stop hiding!" Dr. Kagakusha shouted harshly at the young boy, who winced. Drak glared at her.  
  
"If you want to test your monster, Frankenstein, do it on yourself." Drak hoped his quotation was correct...he had read Frankenstein a long time ago and wasn't completly clear on the details. Dr. Kagakusha crossed her arms.  
  
Teishi felt a struggle occuring not only externally, but internally as well. Almost every instinct within him told him to go forward, to obey the command that had been given to him, regardless of what it may mean for his health. That was what he had done all his life. Obey. He never asked questions and never doubted his orders, he always did his utmost to obey them as soon as he heard them. That was how he lived his life and as such was part of his personality. He, on a subconscious level, wanted to obey Dr. Kagakusha's command to come forward, as that was what he had been trained and told to do all his life, simply obey without question.   
  
On the other hand, he was terrified. He had heard what E could do...recreate pain. And if there was anything Teishi had far too much of in his life, it was pain. He found his fingers brushing idly over his chest and he could remember clearly the sharp biting pain that he had once suffered there. He never wanted to feel it again. He never wanted to experience any more suffering, particularly from his past. He was deathly afraid of suffering at the power of the M-2, but his internal response was fighting against him. He had to obey this command...but he was afraid. Never before had any command frightened him to this extent.   
  
He felt himself automatically taking a step forward, against his fear and against his will, and found Drak holding him back. There was another factor for his internal debate...Drak was the only person who ever made him feel safe. To leave his side would leave him vulnerable...he didn't want to leave the only protection he had ever had. The only person who ever cared about him...he didn't want to leave him. The inner argument was tearing him apart inside and, unable to deal with his own mind, Teishi closed his eyes and buried his face in Drak's back, not wanting to deal with the outside world, trying to hide his helpless, frustrated tears at his own indecision, fear, and blind obediance.  
  
He was unaware of the whimpering sob he had emitted, but others were not so oblivious. Cyrus looked surprised for a moment and Drak intensified his glare. Kame remained staring, one of her ears twitching, and Dr. Kagakusha turned again.  
  
"Don't you see what you're doing to him? This is cruel!" Dr. Dowasure ventured to speak again. "You've already killed someone who never did anything wrong to you-"  
  
"When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it." Dr. Kagakusha aimed a kick at him, but he managed to dodge in time.  
  
Kame kept her hand where it was, keeping her claw focused on what seemed to be Drak's chest.  
The force around Teishi grew stronger and his fear grew. He held onto Drak as long as he could, feeling the force pulling him upwards. He felt that if he let go, he would be lost forever in pain.  
  
"Teishi!"  
  
"Drak...sama..." Teishi gasped, closing his eyes from the strain of keeping his grip. He clutched desperatly at Drak, worried at a subconscious level that perhaps he was hurting him from his frantic grabs. That wasn't Drak's worry at the moment. As Teishi was lifted into the air, Drak grabbed his arms. Teishi gasped involuntarily at the sudden great pressure on his bruised and sensitive skin, but welcomed his help. Drak braced himself against the ground, trying with all his might to keep Teishi with him.  
  
"You can not fight me."   
  
Kame raised her hand into the air. Teishi felt his arms slipping from Drak's grasp. All Teishi felt was the brush of Drak's fingertips grabbing desperatly for his own, and then he was in the air, helpless.  
  
"Teishi! Let him go!" Drak whirled on Kame, who simply stared with her strange eyes, her hand raised at the same level as Teishi. The lack of emotion in both of Kame's actions and her face was echoed by Dr. Kagakusha.  
  
"Do it now." Dr. Kagakusha's voice was hollow.  
  
"He has had much pain in his life." There was no hesitation, no pity, no regret in Kame's voice. Simply the statement of a fact.  
  
"That's no surprise to anyone, E." Dr. Kagakusha rolled her eyes. "Just do it."  
  
The aura around Kame grew, becoming a sickeningly red-purple. Teishi hovered in the air, paralyzed, an aura of colored energy surrounding him. His eyes stared frightened into space. Drak turned between Kame and Teishi, unable to think of anything he could do.  
  
Slowly, the faded bruises on Teishi's arms grew more vivid, some bleeding. Teishi tried to close his eyes and barely managed to, finding that most of his body was out of his control. He tried to speak, but couldn't form any words. His voice was gone.  
  
"Stop it! Let Teishi go!" Drak surged forward, trying to attack the creature, and found Cyrus' hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Don't, kid."  
  
"But Teishi..."  
  
"Listen, kid...if 'm right about this...Slave-boy's suffered enough pain in th' past to be strong to it...he'll prolly make it through this all right."  
  
"I can't just leave him there-"  
  
"You can't help him by gettin' killed, kid." Cyrus narrowed his odd eyes at Kame. She did not notice. Drak found himself helpless and hated himself for it. He turned his gaze to the blond-haired boy, frozen in air.  
  
"Teishi..."  
  
The bruises seemed to ascend from Teishi's arms to his face, where numerous scars and healed cuts began to bleed again, in particular one that seemed to go across his face, from the top of one eye to his jawline. The place most heavily bruised were his cheeks, where Teishi had been struck for most of his life. His eyes became blacked with the results of many strikes brought back to the present. Across the bruises that were now vivid on Teishi's arms small cuts appeared, a multitude of tiny slits, each bleeding slightly, but not worryingly.  
  
"What...?" Drak tried to think of what could have caused those wounds and found he could not.  
  
An old cut reappeared across his eye, bleeding heavily. By it's position, it seemed that it had been a miracle that Teishi had not been blinded by the wound. Teishi managed to close his eyes, mustering his energy. He converted the screams he wanted to release into short muffled cries.  
When a large red stain began to spread from underneath Teishi's shirt, following the same diagonal as the bleeding slash on his face, he could not contain his feelings anymore. The pain was too great. He tried to think of someone who could save him and could not. Then one name came to his mind, his only protector. Tears began to bead and mix with the blood on his face.  
  
"DRAK-SAMAAAA!"  
  
"TEISHI!" Drak felt anger coursing through him with frightening speed at the terror-stricken, helpless, pained scream of his caretaker.  
  
"That's enough, E." Dr. Kagakusha spoke for the first time since the horrible ordeal had started. Dr. Dowasure had placed his hands over his eyes and refused to uncover them.  
  
"There is still some pain left-" Kame's voice again was that of stating a fact.  
  
"That is enough."  
  
Just as Kame withdrew her own power slowly from Teishi, Drak's own energy flared around him, smashing against the red-purple above him. The aura around Teishi, instead of slowly disappearing, appeared to shatter. Teishi fell.  
  
Drak was ready for him. He caught him easily, ignoring the blood from the wounds, laying him on the ground. He brushed some of Teishi's blond hair from his forehead, where it had gotten stuck to the blood that ran from the cuts on his face.  
  
"Teishi, Teishi, are you okay? Can you speak?"  
  
"I'm...I'm okay..." Teishi's voice made it obvious that he was not. It was shaky and weak. He gave a small smile. "Really...Drak-sama, I'm...I'm okay...it's just..."  
  
"Holy @$%#..." Cyrus knelt nearby, glancing over Teishi's wounds. "This's some serious @$%#, kid...where'd you get all this?"  
  
Teishi didn't look at Cyrus nor did he answer him. He kept his eyes focused on Drak, as if pleading for help. He closed one eye, a cut that ran across his eyelid becoming painfully clear.  
  
"Please..." he was unable to say anything else. Drak's eyes flicked towards Dr. Dowasure to find him staring at Teishi with a expression of utter horror on his face.  
  
"Very impressive, E." Dr. Kagakusha's interest seemed forced.  
  
"It is one of my abilities." Kame spoke emotionlessly, although her eyes were narrowed at Cyrus and Drak. She had realized that the withdrawal of her power was not competly her doing.  
  
Dr. Dowasure walked forward, rubbing his eyes furiously as if wanting to rub away what he had seen.  
  
"What do you want?" Dr. Kagakusha angrily said to him. Dr. Dowasure ignored her. He continued walking until he was directly in front of the three who were on the floor, who stared at him. He removed his hands from his eyes, speaking softly.  
  
"I don't know if this can help you, but I'm sure it must do something. I've been carrying it around with me ever since we confiscated it from you...it was in my hands and then it just automatically went into my pocket. It's a reaction." Dr. Dowasure smiled weakly, fishing around in one of his pockets.  
  
"What are you doing? Move away." Dr. Kagakusha's question was harsh and commanding. Dr. Dowasure did not move, only continuing to feel around in what seemed like his bottomless pockets.  
  
"Here. Take it and try and do something. I'm sure that you two together can do something to help her." Neither Cyrus nor Drak knew what he meant by his statement. Dr. Dowasure finally found what he was looking for. He pulled his hand slightly into his sleeve so what he was withdrawing was not visible, then held out his hand towards Cyrus.  
  
It was a black pistol.  
  
"My gun!" Cyrus sounded both surprised and overjoyed. He snatched it with amazing speed. He checked to see if it was loaded and smiled as he cocked it. He held it comfortably in one hand. "Ah yeah...I missed havin' this."  
  
"Use it as best you can." Dr. Dowasure smiled helplessly. "I wish I could do something, but-"  
  
A flash of red-purple appeared from behind him, enveloping the doctor quickly. He looked surprised for a moment, gasping. Kame moved her arm and Dr. Dowasure moved out of the way, colliding bodily with a wall with a short shout of surprise. Dr. Kagakusha had her arms crossed.  
  
"A gun? Do you think you can stop E with a gun? You're an idiot."  
  
"Let's just see, lady." Cyrus looked at his gun for a few moments and Drak could have sworn he saw something glow. He stood up, holding his pistol loosely at his side, seemingly unaware of the danger.  
  
"My name is Dr. Kagakusha!" Dr. Kagakusha seemed furious for a few moments, something strange for her. "It's not 'lady'! You've been calling me that ever since you were born!"  
  
"'S that really yer name?" Cyrus again checked the chambers of his gun, not even looking up at Dr. Kagakusha. "If I remember correctly, you had two other names, didn't you? Namida an' Hana, right?"  
  
"What does that matter?!" Dr. Kagakusha was furious now. She looked at Kame, who was staring straight ahead, ignoring the entire conversation. "Seize him, E! Overflow his senses with pain!"  
  
Kame's eyes began to glow a reddish-purple color. Her long white hair seemed to float around her as she tensed her body.  
  
Cyrus laughed slightly. "Go ahead an' try, if you want. I don't think it'll be quite so easy to attack another M-2 as it is to attack a slave who can't %&#@in' defend himself. C'mon, you %&#@in' $@#^%. See if you can take me down."  
  
Drak suddenly realized the danger he was in and quickly lifted Teishi in his arms, leaping off to one side.  
  
"What's happening..." Teishi mumbled weakly.  
  
"Don't move!" Drak moved his own body in front of Teishi's, shielding him from the psychic blast that was soon sent through the room. The radius of the blast was intentionally wide, attempting to take into account Cyrus trying to dodge, and would have encompassed Drak and Teishi had he not sensed the attack coming.  
  
Kame lowered her hand, seeing no sign of Cyrus. She turned to Dr. Kagakusha, who seemed confused.  
  
"I was unable to renew his pain, but I killed him instead. Is that acceptable?"  
  
Before Dr. Kagakusha could respond, there was a gunshot.  
  
Kame gave a short gasp of pain as a bleeding wound appeared on her shoulder. She turned to find Cyrus standing with both hands wrapped around his pistol, smirking confidentally.  
  
"Should be more observant, E. I would've thought a M-2 could've seen that comin' a %&#@in' mile away."  
  
Kame narrowed her eyes at Cyrus, seeming thoughtful. She stared at him with a cold, calculating look that she had studied Teishi with.  
  
"Much pain. Not as much as the blond boy, but still, much pain." Again, a simple statement.  
  
"La dee %&#@in' dah." Cyrus waved his hand impatiently. "You goin' to %&#@in' attack me or what?"  
  
"Don't kill him immediately, E, first use all your power to bring back his pain. Make sure he suffers first." Dr. Kagakusha spoke with incredible hatred in her voice. She turned her gaze to Cyrus, who was not looking at her. "I've always hated you, C."  
  
"Likewise, lady, %&#@in' likewise. An' th' name's Cyrus." Cyrus glew gently for a moment and ducked to one side, avoiding a sharp spear of red-purple light that flew for his heart. Kame was surprised that Cyrus had not been hit by her attack while he was speaking, a time when she was sure his attention had shifted away from her elsewhere.  
  
"That's not your real name. That's a name you gave yourself." Dr. Kagakusha tried to find a way to catch Cyrus off guard. She could tell what she was saying did have his attention, but as it was he was still able to dodge. He did not fire at Kame again, evidentally trying to align his shot correctly so he wouldn't waste a bullet.  
  
"'S m'name." Cyrus wasn't trying as hard as he usually was to control his accent, instead spending most of his energy dodging the attacks from Kame. Kame remained totally emotionless. "Nothin' YOU can do 'bout it."  
  
"You gave yourself a name in an effort to be more human, C." Dr. Kagakusha kept emphasis on his true name. "But you'll never BE human. You're just a experiment that thinks it has a life of it's own."  
  
This had reached Cyrus and hurt him. Despite the danger he knew he was in, his fury took over him. Ignoring Kame for a few moments, he angrily turned towards Dr. Kagakusha, aiming his pistol at her. "'M %&#@in' goin' t'kill you!"  
  
As if realizing what he had done by the smile on Dr. Kagakusha's face, he turned at almost supernatural speed and fired desperatly at Kame again before one of the spears of light connected with his shoulder. His aim was thrown off slightly because of the impact and instead of hitting Kame in the chest, he hit her the same shoulder that he had before. Kame again winced in pain.  
  
"Why are you able to pierce my shield?" Her voice remained emotionless. "Nothing should be able to touch me."  
  
"I ain't %&#@in' tellin' YOU." His shoulder was bleeding badly. Cyrus closed his eyes momentarily, trying to control his energy to heal himself. However, Kame was not about to let him focus on anything except her assault. Cyrus was being surrounded by the same red-purple light that Teishi had been. He opened his eyes again, staring at her. He leaned on one side, his shoulder obviously causing him considerable pain. He was trying visibly to resist the foreign aura around him, his own dark blue-purple light trying to combat hers. He was losing.  
  
"Cyrus!" Drak called from the side of the room, trying to find some way to help Cyrus, even if it was only moral support. Cyrus showed no sign of hearing him.   
  
Although Teishi had been lifted into the air, Cyrus was not about to allow that indignity. He remained firmly on the ground as Kame focused her power to bring his previous injuries back to the present.  
  
The first injury to reappear on Cyrus were two cuts near his hands. They stretched horizontally across his wrists, beginning to bleed heavily. Retaining his ability to move due to his limited resistance, he ripped his tattered shirt quickly and bound his wrists, trying to stop the blood. Dr. Kagakusha laughed at him.  
  
"Slashed wrists, C? Did you attempt suicide at some point?"  
  
"%&#@ you." He spat at her. Drak stared at Cyrus in surprise. He had never figured Cyrus as the type to try and kill himself. His claims that he had accepted who he was must have been false.  
  
"You didn't even cut your wrists in the correct direction. No wonder you're still alive."  
  
Cyrus had dropped his gun as soon as Kame's energy began to assault his own, but he reached for it now. "Y'%&#@in' $@#^%. I hate you."  
  
"No surprise there."  
  
Cyrus did not react to her statement.  
  
"Idiot. Can't even kill yourself."  
  
Cyrus completly ignored her, as if he had not heard a word she had said. Dr. Kagakusha stared at him momentarily.  
  
Drak could see Cyrus' now roughly wrapped hands shaking with internal fury and rage. He could hear her...he just was not reacting to her. He was focusing his anger at her against Kame. His power was actually managing to fight back hers, something she didn't expect. She narrowed her eyes.  
  
"He's resisting me...I can't retrieve any more pain."  
  
"Well, do something to distract him!" Dr. Kagakush was not trying to conceal her hatred. "He's ignoring me now. Do something!"  
  
Kame narrowed her eyes again. Cyrus realized what she was doing and instantly his power glew brighter.  
  
"Don't you %&#@in' dare try an' get in m'head!"  
  
Kame said nothing, only keeping her eyes focused on him. Her power faded from around him, but Cyrus did not move. He kneeled, holding his hands to his head in pain. His eyes were shut tightly, trying his hardest to resist her.  
  
Drak knew what was happening. Kame was using an ability that his Mewtwo knew. Psychic. He knew how it worked as well. It brought back painful memories to the present, thus hurting the enemy. That was what Kame was attempting to do. Distract Cyrus by bringing exceptionally painful memories back to the present.  
  
"Stay th' %&#@ out..." Cyrus mumbled.  
  
"Establish a link, E. That should be interesting. I don't think two M-2's have ever formed a link before."  
  
Drak wasn't sure what he could do. He couldn't let Cyrus' mind be invaded. Looking at Teishi, he found he had fallen asleep. Or he had just fallen unconscious. He couldn't tell. But he didn't look to be in any immediate danger. It was Cyrus that needed his help now. So Drak closed his eyes and focused.  
  
His black area was darker then usual. He ran through the darkness as fast as he could, searching for the lighter color that denoted Cyrus' mind. He saw nothing.  
  
Cyrus must have been trying to block all psychic intrusion, even from those who were his friends. Drak wasn't about to let Cyrus face this alone.  
  
"CYRUS!" Drak shouted into the darkness. "Where are you? I'm here to help you!"  
  
There was no response, but a flicker of light to one side. Smiling, Drak ran towards it.  
  
With a sudden burst of light, he joined his own mind with Cyrus'.  
  
Cyrus was grappling with some dark, unknown force. He looked towards Drak for a moment, surprised to see him. Drak took a step forward.  
  
A explosion seemed to rock through the entire area, causing Cyrus to fall back as the black shape he had been fighting took more definite form. M-2 Specimen E materialized, her eyes focused directly on Cyrus. 


	19. Memories

Koinonayami  
  
Chapter 33  
  
"Memories"  
  
Kame stared at her quarry passively. Her dark eyes stared into Cyrus'.  
  
"I must restore all your pain to the present." Her voice remained emotionless. "I will do this. Will you allow me to do this without a struggle, or will I be forced to incapacitate you through your previous memories?"  
  
"You ain't doin' neither, #^#$@." Cyrus stood angrily. "Screw you, go t'%^#$, an' all that $&#%. Get th' ^#$@ away from me."  
  
"So I must bring your memories to the present." Kame's voice held no remorse. She pointed at Cyrus, who took a step back.  
  
"Stop it!" Drak wasn't sure of what he could do. How could he stop someone with as much power as Kame?  
  
Cyrus gave a loud cry of pain as he collapsed to the floor, holding his head tightly. "#&#%in...^#%@#..."  
  
"Many painful memories." Kame's voice was still devoid of emotion. "I will bring as many back as are necessary, unless you wish to change your mind and allow me to renew your previous pain."  
  
"#^#$ YOU!" Cyrus shouted angrily at her, the pain in his voice unintentionally clear. "I don't WANT t'remember them anymore..."  
  
She simply stared at him, her eyes glowing softly. In response, Cyrus himself tried to fight this off with his own glow, but it could not compare now that she had a foothold. Drak watched helplessly as Cyrus seemed to be coming near tears, something that infuriated him.  
  
"No...they're gone, @#%# it! I got over it, they're gone! I don't want t'remember them, get out've m'#^#$in' head!"  
  
Kame did not respond.  
  
Drak finally moved forward, kneeling where Cyrus was trying desperatly to fight off the phantoms of his past. "Cyrus? Cyrus, who are you talking about? What's going on? What can I do?"  
  
"Kid, y'got t'get out've here...I can handle this m'self...get away before...'fore..." Cyrus paused while speaking, apparently having some kind of inner struggle. He turned to Drak suddenly, the tone in his voice changing. "#^#$ it, screw that #^#%. Fight her with me, kid! I can't do this myself...they...she's makin' them come back t'me..."  
  
Unsure of how much control or power he had over the realm between conscious minds that formed from telepathic links, he stood in front of the writhing Cyrus, not sure whether or not this would cause Kame to pause, as it had for Teishi. Having made her point that Drak could do nothing before, she didn't move nor say a word as the view of her prey was obstructed.  
  
"Kame Twinrova, listen to me!" Drak knew appealing to the true Kame, the one that had died, was useless, but was unsure of how else to refer to her. He didn't want to reinforce the idea within Kame's mind that she was truly M-2 Speciment E. He knew this was useless, but he didn't care. "Stop this now! Think of what you've done...try and remember who you were!"  
  
"That name means nothing to me." Kame's voice was emotionless. "Stop distracting me or I will be forced to take care of you as well."  
  
"I won't let you hurt anyone else!" Drak raised his hands, trying to access the power that inherently came to him in such surroundings. A large ball of bright, flaring blue energy formed between his hands, heading directly for Kame.  
  
This finally got a reaction from her. She moved out of the way, her long, unnaturally white hair following her movements so slowly it seemed to be floating.  
  
She watched the ball as it harmlessly faded into the black distance. She then turned her gaze to Drak, focusing her frightening eyes on his own. Behind him, Drak could hear Cyrus breath a sigh of relief as the pressure on him was released.  
  
"You have interfered. You must be removed."  
  
~~~  
  
The remaining group of intruders within the facility were faced with their own problems. Ashstar, Atelli, Caleb, Colt, Monty, Mewtwo, Eclipse, and Nick hung back, unable to move against what faced them.  
  
Gabriella and Michelle's wings beat unevenly, both now injured badly, but still functional. The entire process would have been fascinating for almost anyone to watch, particularly those of the scientific community, if the fact that the two would most likely kill you soon after it was completed was ignored.  
  
What had happened was, as the lost group dragged Michelle down the hallway, they had ran across Gabriella. This had resulted in a myriad of screams of surprise, concern, and fear. Against their expectations, Gabriella hadn't tried to kill them immediately, but was more concerned for Michelle. As soon as the creature touched her counterpart, the majority of Michelle's injuries disappeared, instead taking form on Gabriella's body to a lesser extent. Simply put, Gabriella had taken an equal part of the pain Michelle was in, which meant not only was Michelle now conscious, but she was now also able to fight.  
  
The two hovered close to one another, almost impossible close, as Michelle spoke for the two creatures. The disturbing effect of the voice seeming to come from the chest and not the mouth only heightened the fear of the group facing them.  
  
"We appreciate you not destroying me when you had the chance. I guessed that the silver-haired one perhaps desired to."  
  
Ashstar made a noise at this, but didn't say anything as Michelle continued.  
  
"For this, we thank you. But that is the extent of our gratitude. As it is, you have trespassed upon this laboratory, against the wishes of the staff within it. Therefore, we, as guardians of this place, must kill you all."  
  
"All of us? Even our Pokémon?" Nick began to shiver. Michelle was silent for a few moments. She finally spoke again, her voice remaining emotionless.  
  
"Some of your Pokémon may be taken away for experimentation, through which they may live. However, other then that, you all must die. We do regret doing this, considering the kindness you have shown us in not killing us on sight when you had the opportunity. It is simply our duty. Do not resent us for this."  
  
Surprisingly, Ashstar walked forward, her violet eyes flashing angrily. Her voice took on the strange quality it had when she would speak the code to open the doors or when she was chanting the poem, a voice that was neither old nor young, but some strange combination between. It was not the Ashstar they knew's voice.   
  
"Is this really your duty?"  
  
The two hissed at her and flew higher, out of her reach, seeming furious. This was horrifying coming from two whose emotionlessness was enough to terrify.  
  
"Do not speak to us, Silver-hair! We do not answer to you nor your master anymore!"  
  
"Ashstar, what are you doing?" Atelli whispered urgently at her. This was strange behavior coming from Ashstar, but then again, ever since they had arrived here, she had been exhibiting strange behavior. Ashstar acted as if she hadn't heard her, continuing her tirade against the two hovering above her.  
  
"You do not answer to the master because you were cast out of her presence!"   
  
These words seemed to cause Michelle and Gabriella almost physical pain.   
  
"She did not want you anymore, but as a substitute, you have made up a cause to fight for!"  
  
Michelle had extended her claws and pointed them at Ashstar meaningfully. "Shut up, silver-hair! We do not need to withstand abuse from someone the master nearly destroyed herself!"  
  
Colt nudged Monty. "Do you have any clue what's going on?"  
  
Monty shrugged. "No idea. Enjoy it while you can though. I think they may start killing us soon, so I think Ashstar should distract them as much as possible."  
  
"Unlike YOU, however, I was able to return to her presence. You, on the other hand, have been banished. Forever."  
  
"That was a mistake." Michelle hissed angrily, fangs briefly showing. "If we kill you, the errant one, perhaps this will redeem us. If we perform what duties have been assigned to us well, then we have nothing to fear. She will reaccept us, as she has you."  
  
"I haven't done evil on the scale that you have." Ashstar hissed between her teeth. Michelle was silent for a moment.  
  
Caleb jerked with surprise and gestured to Colt and Monty. "Hey! Hey, remember what Ashstar said she did? She said she killed a Pokémon!"  
  
"Kindness, wasn't it called?"  
  
Monty was strangely silent.  
  
"You know what that means?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Those two must have done something worse."  
  
"What could possibly be worse?"  
  
There was no answer to that question.  
  
"If we bring her your body, that will surely be enough to redeem us." Michelle landed finally, limping badly. She was followed by Gabriella, who could stand solidly enough, but her arm seemed limp and almost useless. "After all, you're disobeying her orders right now, are you not?"  
  
Ashstar seemed annoyed by this fact that had been brought to her attention. "Only because I do not know how to fulfill them."  
  
"There are no excuses for the master." Michelle's claws flashed brightly. "If we bring in you, her most errant servant, then we will return."  
  
"Likewise..." Ashstar's voice took a strangely deep tone. "If I kill you both, who have commited more evil then me, then I can also return to her presence."  
  
"Are you saying you're going to try and kill us, Guardian?" Michelle and Gabriella spoke at the same time.  
  
Some strange sense of premonition gave Atelli the sense of mind to drag Nick to the ground, covering her head. "Everybody, get down!"  
  
Ashstar's voice was now almost fully demonic as some kind of unknown, bright scarlet power flowed easily through her body, causing her bright silver hair to flash almost blindingly. Her hair began to float around her head, now glowing scarlet from the energy building around her, as if gravity was non-existent in her near vicinity. "Not try..."  
  
Creating a large sphere of the red energy above her head, she flung it at the two in front of her. "WILL!"  
  
Michelle and Gabriella exerted phenomenal speed as they dodged the crackling sphere. However, due to their previous injuries, that was the extent of their movement. They collapsed on the ground, their brief spurt of energy causing a moment of helplessness. They struggled mightily to ready themselves for an attack of their own.  
  
"That's..." Colt stared wide-eyed at the scarlet energy as it slammed into one of the metal walls. Memories he had tried to suppress began to re-emerge. "That's..."  
  
"Oh my god...it's what Ella E did..."  
  
"Saph's fire..." Monty seemed almost confused by this entire encounter. "Ashstar can control it...better then Ella E can, apparently."  
  
"What the heck is going on?!" Atelli was almost hysterical, frightened out of her mind. Near her, Nick had given up looking and had buried his face in his hands. "My SISTER could do this!?"  
  
"Not...exactly." Colt watched as Michelle and Gabriella launched themselves at Ashstar, hissing wildly. Although Ashstar seemed able to dodge one, she could not dodge two at one time. She sustained several glaring wounds on her face, each of which only heightened her rage. The red glow around her deepened until it was the color of blood, Michelle and Gabriella retreating almost painfully from the energy. They only moved a few feet away, hopping awkwardly. The two stared at the silver-haired girl in silence for a few moments, leading those around them to believe that perhaps the battle had run it's course.  
  
"I'll kill you!" The combatants shouted at the same time.   
  
All three of them gathered scarlet energy from within them and attacked, causing a massive explosion that left everyone's ears ringing and almost everyone screaming.  
  
~~~  
  
Dr. Kagakusha was knocked off her feet as what felt like a massive earthquake shook the entire facility. All those still in the conscious world could feel it.  
  
"What the...!"  
  
Struggling to her feet, she watched as those who were psychically linked were thrown back into the real world roughly, all of them being knocked to the floor in surprise.  
  
The earthquake lasted for quite some time, during which everyone, as if by some unspoken law, was silent as they waited for it to stop. Cyrus and Drak had moved away from Kame as soon as they returned to the physical world, joining Teishi who had woken to the massive shaking the room was undergoing. Silently, almost everyone stared fearfully at the crackling walls and floors and the tubes on the wall, which miraculously sustained little damage.  
  
When it finally died down, there was a silence afterwards.  
  
"What th' #$#$ was that?" Cyrus rubbed his head, staring in the general direction of where the explosion had come from.  
  
"M-2 Specimen E, resume your previous orders!" Dr. Kagakusha had regained her composure and pointed to the three on the floor.  
  
"Which orders?" Kame stood silently, remaining passive. Dr. Kagakusha was frustrated by this wait, noting that Cyrus was now standing as well.  
  
"Bring back C's pain!"  
  
"Hey, Lady!" Cyrus pointed at the woman, who tried to ignore him. "I don't 'zactly 'preciate havin' m'head bein' #^#%ed around with!"  
  
"Well, it's going to happen again if I can help it, so get used to it!" She shouted back at him. She turned to Kame. "E-"  
  
"Let's return th' favor!" Cyrus's eyes flashed brightly and Dr. Kagakusha gave a strange cry of shock. It was fairly evident to Drak that Cyrus had established a psychic link with the woman, but her reaction was different then he expected. She seemed frightened, almost terrified, of a psychic link and tried to fight it without success.  
  
He turned to look at Kame and found her eyes glowing as well. One quick glance at Dr. Kagakusha's now prone form on the floor told him that the two psychics were most likely battling within the woman's mind.  
  
Although Dr. Kagakusha had done some evil things, he couldn't allow Cyrus and Kame to destroy her unintentionally while one fought the other. Sighing, he prepared himself to enter the link.  
  
"Drak-sama...don't...it's...not safe..." Teishi gasped through his pain next to him. Drak put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Teishi, relax. This won't take long, I promise."  
  
"Drak-sama, please." Teishi's eyes seemed to tear slightly. "You don't understand...Dr. Kagakusha...isn't...right..."  
  
"I know that." Drak smiled.  
  
"No, I don't mean like that..." Teishi turned his green eyes toward her with a twitch of pain from the wound over his eye. "She...she's weak...it's not safe in there...she is... unstable..."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Drak stared at him in confusion, then entered into his psychic link. "Don't worry."  
  
"Drak-sama-" Was the last words he heard from Teishi before entering the dark area within his mind.  
  
It wasn't as hard as it usually was to find where the battle was taking place, mainly because there were flashing lights and loud noises coming from one direction. Drak headed there with all speed, frightened of what he would find.  
  
"#^#$, lady! What th' #%#$ y'think yer doin'?" Cyrus' confused voice was clear to him. Drak burst into the gathering suddenly, his eyes adjusting to the strange surroundings.  
  
It was unlike any other mind he had shared a link with. Generally there was one area that was shaped by whichever decided to edit the surroundings. Other then that, it remained a blank, nondescript area until someone wished to alter it.  
  
This...was different.  
  
There were two distinct areas that he could see. This was peculiar in itself, considering that the area between minds did not usually have an area that came inherently, much less two.  
  
One was covered with sharp, jagged ends, the floor a dark, unidentifiable color. Although Drak could not place what kind of color it was, it made him increasingly uncomfortable and for some reason, angry. Tearing his gaze away from it, he turned to the other side. It was a soft, light, non-threatening color, one that made Drak feel safe, and there were no hard edges, no corners.  
  
What shocked him was that there were two different Kagakusha's standing on each side. The one on the jagged,dark side had what seemed to be a tear emblazoned on her forehead and instead of the curls that Dr. Kagakusha normally had her hair in, it was flared wildly around her head, unbrushed and uncared for. The look on her face was callous, cruel, unfeeling. At the moment it was twisted in anger, something that seemed all the more frightening on such a harsh, cruel visage.   
  
On the soft side, the other Kagakusha had a flower in her hair, which was carefully curled, more so then usual. Not a single strand appeared to be out of place. Everything about her seemed to speak of obediance, of compliance, of fear and rejection. She had a clinging sadness about her and it seemed a extreme effort for her to even speak, and when she did, her voice was soft and unassuming.  
  
"Please, get out while you still can." The one with the flower in her hair held her hand out to Drak. "Namida is out of control-"  
  
"Shut up, Hana!" Namida, the one with the tear on her forehead, had a rough, angry, harsh voice, one twisted by anger, hate, resentment, and slight tinges of fear. She was at the moment attacking Cyrus rather actively, using what seemed to be some kind of bladed weapon that Drak had never seen and could not identify.   
  
Cyrus seemed rather surprised by this openly hostile and homicidal behavior by someone he characteristically knew to act in insidiously hurtful ways and was no doubt shocked sharply by his surroundings, therefore not using his mental power as well as he might have. Kame, on the other hand, remained out of the battle, apparently not sure of what to do. She did not know which Dr. Kagakusha to obey, and this had caused her inactivity.  
  
"Kid, y'know what this means?" Drak wasn't sure if Cyrus was asking a rhetorical question or not. Drak remained silent for a moment.  
  
Two different sides of the area...two different versions of herself...  
  
"Namida...Hana..." He mumbled to himself. He then opened his eyes wide and looked between the two. "You're..."  
  
"I'm Hana." The one with the flower put a hand on her chest. It was a submissive, non-threatening gesture. "Kagakusha Hana, to use my full name."  
  
Namida was grappling with Cyrus and did not speak. Hana took up her part reluctantly, apparently afraid to speak for her counterpart.  
  
"That's Kagakusha...Namida."  
  
"What..." Drak tried to think of someway to frame his next words. "You're...two different people..."  
  
Hana nodded slowly, sadly. "It happened a long time ago...it was an accident...we weren't always...this seperate...but now...there's just me...and Namida."  
  
"Unfortunately!" Namida managed to shout hatefully as she struck out at Cyrus. Cyrus managed to dodge again barely, finally using his power to enhance his speed. Trying to gain an opening to use his power was hard, as Namida rarely let up her assault upon him.  
  
"#%@$ lady, yer more #^@#ed up then I thought! Holy #@$#!"  
  
Drak couldn't believe Cyrus had managed to say that.  
  
"I wish I wasn't stuck with HER..." Namida gritted from between her teeth as she struggled against Cyrus' now enhanced strength. Both Kagakusha's had on a whole ignored Cyrus' comment. "Why she even came to being is beyond me...she's only a liability. Hard to believe an aspect like her existed and was, even worse, given life."  
  
"Which one of you...um...did...uh..." Drak pointed at the two, not sure of how to phrase the issue that had just gotten a lot more complicated. Hana lowered her eyes and pointed at Namida.  
  
"Her...I...I couldn't make myself..."  
  
Namida paused for a moment, allowing Cyrus to attack. She ducked out of the way, stricking out again. "I had to do it because she was too much of weakling to do her job! Didn't enjoy a minute of it though, somewhat of a disappointment. How about you, C?"  
  
"#^@#in' ^@$#%!" Cyrus shouted angrily, his body glowing with fury. Drak stared at Namida in surprise.  
  
"How...How can you just DO that to someone...?"  
  
"It's my job...I do my job. That's it." Her voice faltered slightly.   
  
Hana seemed forlorn as she spoke. She stepped slightly away from the battlers as they came close to her, seeming frightened to speak. "She does feel remorse...not openly, but she does...She told me once..."  
  
"A mistake that won't be repeated!" Namida's voice was angry, but hid tinges of regret.  
  
Drak noted with the intensification of the power that Cyrus was using, the more the world around them began to waver and shake. As Cyrus cut Namida's arm badly, directly across the joint of her elbow, the world shook almost as if the earthquake had reoccured. Understanding what Teishi now meant, he rushed forward, managing to grab Cyrus' arm as he had backed away to rest. Namida had fallen to the ground, clutching her arm painfully. Hana was at her side in a moment, trying to help bandage her wound, which Namida vehemently refused to the point of pushing her weaker counterparts hands violently away.  
  
"Cyrus, we have to get out of here! It's not safe!"  
  
"#^#%! Did you hear what she said? 'M goin' t'@#^#in' KILL HER!"  
  
"Cyrus, please! Look around you! This mind has been fractured enough! It can't take more pressure, it'll collapse on us!"  
  
"Prolly drive th' #@$#in' Lady insane! Or...more insane!" Cyrus seemed pleased at the prospect.  
  
"Us as well!" Drak stared at him angrily. "We're here too, remember? We'll be trapped in here if we don't get out!"  
  
"Please...leave." Hana's voice was quiet. "It isn't safe here for you."  
  
Cyrus stared at her in confusion while Namida was so overcome with pain she finally allowed Hana to bandage the wound. "Why do you care, #^#%#?"  
  
"I apologize for what we had to do to you." Hana bowed to him respectfully, her voice soft, almost out of hearing. "I did not want to do it, but we had no choice. It was either that or lose everything we hold dear to us. We are very sorry. Even Namida."  
  
"I'm not sorry..." She didn't sound as if she meant it. Drak noticed with alarm that the same wound that Namida had had appeared on her counterparts arm as well.  
  
"Please, do not hate us. It is not our fault."  
  
Cyrus was about to say something before Drak pulled on his arm roughly. "Cyrus, we have to get out of here! NOW!"  
  
Cyrus hesitated for a split second, not sure of what to do. Within that second, a brief, fleeting image appeared.  
  
It was another Kagakusha. This time, however, her hair had been tied up into a ponytail and her hair had an equal dispersion of curls and wild hair. Her eyes and face were calm, even though she too was bleeding from her arm.  
  
"Go...please..." Her voice was ephmereal and faint. With those few words, she vanished completely, leaving only Hana and Namida, both of which looked confused.  
  
That was enough for Cyrus. He reluctantly followed Drak out of the mental link, noting that Kame also had flicked back into the real world.  
  
As the familiar surroundings of the lab they had left reformed around them, Drak found Teishi at his side.  
  
"What did you do, sir? Did you meet the nice one? The mean one? Were they both there?"  
Drak finally managed to collect himself enough to speak yet again. "I...I saw...three..."  
  
"Three?" Teishi even seemed surprised. Cyrus was shaking his head.  
  
"Holy #&#%...what a #@#%ed up lady. Well, 'least that 'splains why she did all that #&#% t'me..."  
  
"Are you actually going to forgive her, Cyrus?" Drak looked at him in surprise. "It wasn't her fault-"  
  
Before he could finish, Cyrus' familiar angry tone was back. "#^@% no! 'M goin' t'kill that #&#%ed up lady if 's th' last thin' I do!"  
  
Drak smiled grimly in spite of himself. "That's what I thought."  
  
~~~  
  
The massive explosion had caused problems of a more serious variety around it's origin.  
  
The hallway crux, where Ashstar, Michelle, and Gabriella had been arguing, was now completely gone. In it's place was a large expanse of smoldering rubble. Fortunately, the ceiling had managed to survive the blast, although the floor and walls were not so fortunate. Neither were those who were in the vicinity of the blast.  
  
Michelle, Gabriella, and Ashstar were motionless. They had been thrown to opposite sides of the hallway, but had not suffered any visible injuries. Atelli and Nick, who had had the foresight to take cover on the floor, suffered the least damage. They had at worst scrapes and cuts. Nick was scared speechless and Atelli was trembling wildly, but other then that they were not badly hurt.  
  
However.  
  
Colt had, on instinct, shoved his two companions behind him and taken the brunt of the powerful blast. As he had promised himself long ago, he did not scream. Those behind him, however, did.  
When they awoke or were able to see clearly again, as the explosion had left bright lights flashing in the vision, they surveyed their own damage.  
  
Caleb found he had a thin piece of shrapnel lodged in his shoulder. It wasn't until he actually looked at it that it began to burn with agony. Trying to ignore the pain, he pushed Colt's body out of his vision, looking at Monty.  
  
Monty was bleeding from his head rather badly. He was conscious, but only in the loosest sense of the word.  
  
"Monty! Are you okay?"  
  
Despite the clear obviousness of the answer to this question, Monty decided to answer. "Not really, I AM awake though...you?"  
  
"Can't move my arm..." Caleb tried and got a flash of pain for his efforts. "What about...Colt!"  
  
The two slowly inched their way around Colt's body, staring at him. His skin seemed darkened almost imperceptibly from the blast. He, however, was not bleeding. The two near him shook him, worried, but he didn't respond.  
  
"Are you guys okay over there?"  
  
"Colt's not waking up!"  
  
Atelli and Nick made their way over to where Caleb and Monty were trying desperatly to wake Colt.  
  
"C'mon Colt, get up! We still have to find Ella E! Colt..."  
  
Atelli noted the injuries the other two had sustained and looked hopelessly at the wreckage around them. "What are we going to do? No one knows we're here...we can't get help..."  
  
Nick spoke, for the first time since the explosion, and his voice was shaky and soft. "Mewtwo's gone."  
  
A quick look around confirmed it.  
  
"He must have teleported somewhere else..."  
  
"But where? We could really use his healing ability now..."  
  
"That only works on himself though, doesn't it?"  
  
Caleb was still shaking Colt with his own good arm. "C'mon, you stupid idiot. You have to get up. Why in the world did you push us behind you? Stupid...wake up!"  
  
Colt remained unresponsive.  
  
"This is beginning to worry me..." Monty's voice was shaky despite his best efforts not to make it so. He placed a hand on Colt's chest. "I...I don't think I hear a heartbeat."  
  
Atelli laughed in a strange, hollow way. "No, Colt can't die! He's too strong for that! C'mon Colt, we'll get you all fixed up..."  
  
No response.  
  
"What do we do?" Nick asked in his quiet voice. Monty sighed.  
  
"I don't know. We can't just sit here...they must have heard us. We have to keep going."  
  
"We can't move Colt! He's probably got a whole load of broken bones or something!"  
  
"We can't stay here..."  
  
"What about the others?" Caleb gestured with his good hand at the three combatants that had fallen. "We can't just leave them either."  
  
"We have to keep going until we find Ella E and the others." Atelli's voice was frantic and strained. "We have to."  
  
In truth, the only thing that was keeping Atelli from a nervous breakdown was the thought of finding her sister. If she found her, everything would be okay. She had to find her, she was the first priority.  
  
"You two seem the healthiest..." Monty pointed to where one fractured hallway left off. "I think that's where we were going...go find them and bring them back when you do."  
  
"We can't just leave you here alone..."  
  
"We'll be okay." Caleb tried to smile through the stabbing pain in his shoulder. He didn't dare try to remove the shrapnel for fear of increasing the pain. Monty coughed.  
  
"And...after all, we four do almost everything together. We might as well die together."  
  
"Monty!" Caleb stared, horrified, at Monty, as if asking how he could say such a thing. "No one's going to die!"  
  
Monty ignored him, only staring downwards at Colt's unresponsive face. "I only wish Drak was here though...then we'd have the whole four, and this wouldn't feel so...incomplete."  
  
The talk of death had so frightened Atelli that now the only thing on her mind was leaving the horrible wreckage as fast as possible. Seizing Nick's hand, she began to walk away, her legs still too sore to run.  
  
"We'll be back, I swear we will! We'll bring Ella E and Drak back to you!"  
  
As they faded from view, the three remaining conscious members of the ill-fated rescue party stared at the metal ceiling.  
  
"We can't do anything..." Caleb stifled his cry of agony as a muscle in his shoulder twitched, causing the shrapnel to dig in deeper. With Colt sprawled across their laps and the threat of broken bones, they truly couldn't move. Caleb turned to Monty, who was staring at the ceiling with the bemused stare he often had. Surprised at his reaction, he waited for Monty to speak.  
"I guess all we can do now is trust whatever's out there to have mercy on us..."  
  
~~~  
  
Mewtwo had teleported away when the blast occured, but now had no idea where he was or why. He had sensed the blast before it had happened, part of his inherent psychic nature, and had instinctively teleported, unintentionally bringing along Eclipse, where he knew the explosion wouldn't expand. Unfortunately, he had no idea where he was anymore. All he had were faint traces of Drak's psychic energy. He tried to trace it, but the conflicting patterns he faced made it extremely difficult.  
  
Suddenly, a loud psychic jolt came to him. Jerking in surprise, he found his short white fur raised on end.   
  
He knew what that was.  
  
Every motive in his body ceased. The only compulsion for him was to follow the source of energy. Even Drak somewhat disappeared from his mind. He had only one purpose...to follow the psychic energy that had just touched him.  
  
Eclipse tried to reason with him.  
  
"What are you doing? We have to help the others! Mewtwo? Mewtwo!"  
  
He did not respond, nor did he hear her. Confused and frightened, Eclipse only could cling to her sons head, hoping that wherever he was going was safer then where they had just been.   
He had heard the voices. He had felt the jolt, and there was only one thing on his mind now. He was to only follow it. The voices...  
  
Calling for him...  
  
For his brethren...  
  
To Be Continued... 


	20. Respond

Koinonayami  
  
Chapter 34  
  
"Respond"  
  
"Aaagh..."  
  
"Don't move, okay?"  
  
"I don't think you should take it out...that might make it worse..."  
  
"We can't just leave it in there. I bet it's cutting off circulation to the rest of your arm."  
  
Caleb looked at the piece of shrapnel that was imbedded in his shoulder and watched as the blood flow slightly increased then fell with each beat of his heart. He gave Monty an incredulous look.  
  
"With how bad I'm bleeding? Not likely..."  
  
"Listen, just stay still..."  
  
The moment Monty touched the sharp piece of metal, Caleb screamed in pain. Monty released it, leaning back and sighing.  
  
"Guess it's going to have to stay there...you got it pretty bad."  
  
"At least I'm conscious." Caleb tried to sound flippant, but he knew that he sounded worried. He stared down at Colt. "Unlike this idiot here."  
  
"If he IS unconscious and not dead."  
  
Caleb glared at Monty. "Don't say that. He's not going to die and neither are we."  
  
Monty managed a sardonic smile. "What about Drak and Ella E, hmm? Think they're dead?"  
  
Caleb sighed. "No, they're alive too."  
  
"What about them?" Monty gestured towards the three bodies that remained in the hallway, motionless. Caleb looked thoughtful.  
  
"You know, I don't think they CAN die..."  
  
"Hmmph..." Monty touched his head, wiping away some of the blood that was tangling his hair. "I think you're being overly optimistic. I think we're all going to die."  
  
"Don't you start getting all Drak on me." Caleb pointed at him. "He's the one who's supposed to be depressed all the time."  
  
There was an awkward pause at this, then the two sighed at the same time. Caleb twitched his shoulder and hissed between his teeth.  
  
"Do you think Drak's changed?" Monty spoke after a long period of silence. Caleb would have shrugged if he were able.  
  
"Why would he? Unless they did something to him..."  
  
"Do you think we've changed?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"...I don't know." Monty shook his head. "I guess...I just feel and do all these things that just don't make sense to me. Would YOU have been here if you hadn't met Ella E? Would you have been here if you hadn't met any of us?"  
  
Caleb was silent for a moment. His voice was soft when he spoke again. "I don't know...why should it matter? We can't change the past."  
  
Monty smiled and closed his eyes, apparently trying to rest. "Just trying to make conversation."  
  
Caleb, despite his situation, managed a smile. "I think conversation is the last thing we need at this point."  
  
The rustling of wings instantly drew their attention to the end of the decimated hallway.  
Michelle was moving.  
  
Agonizingly slowly she pushed herself off the metal floor, her wings hanging uselessly around her. She turned to her companion and touched her with one claw, causing her to fall back on the floor once again and Gabriella to begin moving.  
  
"I said you were too optimistic..." Monty mumbled. Caleb didn't even bother to respond.  
  
The two finally managed to help eachother upwards, stumbling awkwardly about the hallway, unable to regain their balance without the help of their presently useless wings. They surveyed the area with their strange, otherworldly eyes and finally stopped on Monty and Caleb.  
  
"You're right...it doesn't feel complete without Drak here." Caleb whispered.  
  
"Nice knowing you."  
  
"You too."  
  
The two stayed silent for a few minutes, staring at the three forms near the wall and the one at the other end of the hallway.  
  
Without a word, Michelle and Gabriella slowly headed the opposite direction, disappearing around a corner.  
  
Both Monty and Caleb were silent awhile.  
  
"That was unexpected." Monty looked confused.  
  
Caleb, however, was not.  
  
"I don't think they ever truly hated us...they just had to remove us...and I guess they think we'll die soon enough, so they left anyway."  
  
He continued speaking as Monty looked at him. "They aren't evil...they're just doing their job."  
  
"Unngh..."  
  
The two turned sharply, or at least as well as they could in their current injured state, towards the source of the sound. Ashstar lifted her head painfully then rolled over slightly on her side. She curled into a ball, silent.  
  
After a short silence, Caleb ventured to speak. "Ashstar?"   
  
She groaned in response.  
  
Monty sighed. "This is just getting worse and worse..."  
  
~~~  
  
At the same time, Cyrus and Kame froze.  
  
Drak jerked sharply towards them, finding himself trembling. His best reason for doing so at the moment was fear. "What? What is it?"  
  
Both of them couldn't move for a few moments. Drak looked towards Dr. Kagakusha and found her to still be unconscious. Glad that she wasn't complicating things, he theorized mentally that it was perhaps her lack of orders that had caused Kame's inactivity. But...  
  
Why would Cyrus freeze as well?  
  
"Can...can y'hear it, kid?" Cyrus' voice was filled with wonder. "Can y'hear it? 'S...'s callin' me..."  
  
"What? What's calling you? What are you talking about?" Drak tried to steady his trembling limbs but found this only increased their unwanted movement. He took a step towards Cyrus, who remained motionless.  
  
"I have t'go." Cyrus turned sharply, startling Drak. He looked and found that Kame had also turned at almost the same time. "I have t'go, it wants me."  
  
"What wants you? Cyrus, what are you doing? What's going on?"  
  
Cyrus simply shook his head and moved towards the wall, his movements echoed by Kame almost exactly.  
  
Drak dashed over to Teishi so quickly that he lost his balance, sliding on the floor into the wall. He grabbed Teishi's arm so roughly that the re-injured boy gasped.  
  
"Teishi, come on. We have to follow them. We can't let them go alone!"  
  
"Drak-sama..." Teishi's voice was soft and hesitant. "Drak-sama, I..."  
  
Drak suddenly felt another voice within him overcome the urgency that he was feeling. He could see Teishi's pain at being forced to be conscious, let alone stand. He couldn't force the boy to come with him, he needed to rest. He couldn't let Teishi just suffer in silence.  
  
But he had to find out where Cyrus and Kame were going. He had to.  
  
"It won't take long, Teishi, I promise. You just have to come with me." He put the smaller boy's arm around his shoulders, holding him upwards. Teishi could barely stand. "I can't leave you here alone."  
  
"Drak-sama..." Teishi seemed confused. He stared at Drak with a strange look on his face, the still-bleeding injuries on his face enhancing their previous output with the use of facial muscles. "Drak-sama, why?"  
  
"We can't just let them walk off by themselves. What if something happens to them? And besides, they may lead us to...to someplace important." Drak looked at Cyrus and Kame, who both had their hands against the wall. The metal was shivering violently, almost looking like water.  
  
Drak began limping towards the two, struggling with the weight of Teishi along with his own, which seemed heavier then ever before. The frantic urgency within him didn't allow him to stop shaking, which he was sure that Teishi must have noticed. However, the small boy didn't say anything. This didn't surprise him.  
  
He had to find out where they were going...  
  
He couldn't let them leave alone.  
  
"Drak..." Dr. Dowasure stumbled towards him, still shocked from his brief encounter with the wall. "Drak, what's going on? Do you know? What happened?"  
  
"I don't...I don't know what's going on. I thought...maybe if I followed them..."  
  
"Drak...don't."  
  
Drak looked at the doctor in surprise, who looked startlingly pained. "Why?"  
  
Dr. Dowasure looked hesitant, then took his long ponytail in his hands, running his fingers through the strands. "I couldn't stop you anyway, could I? You seem really intent on doing this, I think..."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Drak glared at him, impatience taking over his normally passive personality. "I'm just going to follow them. There's no problem with that."  
  
Dr. Dowasure tossed his ponytail idly back over his shoulder. "But...I...I don't remember. I...wish I did, but I can't...I'm sorry. Hurry if you can."  
  
Drak was confused at Dr. Dowasure's behavior, but decided he best not question it. He turned and continued moving towards the two near the wall.  
  
The wall was shaking more and more, it's movements becoming more fluid with each vibration. Both Cyrus and Kame were glowing with their own colored energy, the wall being the recipient of both was fluctuating colors rapidly. With a crunch, the wall collapsed on itself, leaving a large hole, through which Kame and Cyrus quickly walked. Drak struggled to follow them, looking back to find Dr. Dowasure trying to wake Dr. Kagakusha.  
  
"Why would you want to do something like that...?" Drak thought to himself. Resigning it as something he would never understand, he continued walking forward.  
  
He could feel a tingling in his heart and in his mind. Perhaps that was causing his shaking...it must have been Mewtwo. Mewtwo must be close by!  
  
The thought was enough to make Drak sigh with relief. Finally, after all this time, he and his Mewtwo would finally be reunited. Their two seperated minds would finally become one again. He wouldn't be alone anymore...  
  
"Drak-sama, do...do you know where you're going? You...you look like you're talking with someone."  
  
He looked at Teishi who was still trying to walk, although his legs were slow and refused to obey his commands. He had his free hand held against his chest, as if in an effort to seal the reopened wound there.  
  
"I'm not talking with someone..." Drak looked at Cyrus and Kame, who were walking next to eachother as if there had never been any such enmity between the two. "But I will soon...soon I'll be back with who I belong."  
  
"Oh..." Teishi wasn't sure whether or not he should question his master. Not unless he was ordered...he reminded himself. He stayed silent.  
  
"Soon...everything will be back to normal..." Drak struggled with his limp, trying to keep pace with the two who walked ahead of him deliberately, as if they knew exactly where they were going.  
  
Which they did.  
  
~~~  
  
"Mewtwo, what are you doing? The others need your help!"  
  
The Mewtwo barely heard his mother's words. He flashed his eyes once.  
  
"There. They will have their help. I have something that I must do."  
  
Eclipse clung tightly to her son's head, fearing that something may happen which may result in her being taken away from him. "I'm glad you've finally decided to talk again, but that doesn't answer my first question. What are you doing?"  
  
Mewtwo continued walking purposefully down the hallway, taking no notice of his surroundings. "I'm doing what I'm supposed to. I'm answering."  
  
"Answering what?"  
  
"The call."  
  
"From what? Mewtwo, you aren't making sense! This isn't like you!"  
  
He didn't respond, only continuing to walk down the hallway.   
  
"Please, you're frightening me." Eclipse wasn't sure what she could do. Whatever it was that had called her son far exceeded any power she had over him. He was not listening to her...there was no way she could stop him. She just had to stay with him and see what was going to happen... "Tell me who's calling you!"  
  
Mewtwo still refused to respond.  
  
"Please!"  
  
"You wouldn't understand." Mewtwo finally spoke, his voice rough and angry. Eclipse was shocked at this change of tone in her son's voice and was silent. She had never heard him use a tone like that with her. There was something wrong...something that she truly didn't understand. What could she do...?  
  
"I hope whatever you're doing isn't going to hurt anyone..." Eclipse's voice was weak.  
  
"I hope so as well." His voice had softened, but it's effect on her didn't change.  
  
~~~  
  
Prof. Denka was typing busily in his computer.  
  
"Status report on recent project, M-2 Specimen E..." He breathed the words aloud, then sighed to himself. He continued typing, his hands moving remarkably quickly.  
  
"Dr. Kagakusha took on the project with all her usual determination and vigor. There is nothing that interests her more then this field and she is glad to dabble in it once again. Perhaps she wishes for a success to counteract her previous failures..."  
  
He sipped from his cup of coffee and continued typing. "The project has been completed. I can tell because of the information my computer keeps receiving about the cloning area, that certain containers have opened or shut and that a certain fluid has been transferred to a certain creature...more then enough to assure me the project has been completed. Dr. Kagakusha no doubt has taken all the precautions possible with this project against her previous mistakes, such as..."  
  
He paused, his fingers hovering over the keyboard for a few moments. "Such as free-will, a sense of one's self, self-esteem problems, an overflow of pigmentation, and various other defects. I am sure the new M-2 will meet your expectations. As soon as Dr. Kagakusha comes to report to me personally on the status of the project, I will ensure the M-2 for transport and send it to you directly.  
  
-Prof. Denka"  
  
He leaned back in his chair and stared at the words on the screen, bright gashes of black text against a white background. He sighed, looking upwards.  
  
"If only I knew why you wanted this..." He stared at the screen. "You never explain any of your actions to us...only what we are to do. For once I would like to know what doing this to a human being could possibly achieve..."  
  
He smiled to himself. "And I AM a scientist...it's my job to know all I can."  
  
He again poised his fingers as if to add to the report, then put them back on the armrests. "No...no, I can't question my superiors. It could get me fired, for all I know. I just have to do as I'm told..." He sighed again. "I guess me and Teishi have more in common then we would suspect."  
  
iCOME!/i  
  
Prof. Denka nearly fell over at the sudden shock within his mind. He gripped the armrests tightly, looking around for whoever had spoken. He then leaned back and sighed again. That could only mean one thing...  
  
Someone was trying to communicate with him telepathically.  
  
Considering how long Prof. Denka had worked with psychic Pokémon, this wasn't unusual. He closed his eyes and tried to relax.  
  
iCome./i  
  
The voice had softened, apparently realizing that he was listening. He still didn't know how to respond to psychic summons, having no such powers himself, and waited for further instructions, if there were any.  
  
iThe hallway. Where the explosion was. Go there and help them./i  
  
"The hallway...?" Prof. Denka opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "What hallway? There are hundreds, perhaps thousands in this complex. I can't possibly fulfill your commands if you don't tell me where you want me to go, can I?"  
  
He didn't expect a response and he didn't get one. He turned back to the computer and typed a few quick lines.  
  
"There has been some minor damage to the facility. Nothing to be worried about."  
  
With that, he sent the report on it's way and then noticed a bright blinking light in one corner of the screen. Clicking on it, he found a window popping up to greet his eyes.  
  
"Warning! Chamber F12 has been damaged..."  
  
He closed that one, knowing this wasn't where he was being directed to go, staring at the next one to come up.  
  
"Warning! Hallway H2 has been damaged. Please go and restore power to the following sections. Subsection H2-Alpha, H2-Beta, H2-Gamma..."  
  
He stood and walked out of the room quietly. At least he now knew where he was to go.  
  
~~~  
  
Cyrus and Kame paused in front of a door that was locked. Drak paused with them.  
  
"Why won't you guys answer me? What are you doing?" Drak tried to keep his voice from shuddering along with his body.  
  
Cyrus and Kame again touched the wall with their hands, causing the metal again to crumple in upon itself. They walked into the room silently.  
  
Drak stared at the surroundings as he entered the room for a few moments, feeling a discernable shudder break through the constant waves he was feeling. This was...the M-2 Lab...  
  
He limped forward, sensing Teishi's confusion and concern.  
  
"Drak-sama, why are we here again...?"  
  
"I don't know..."  
  
Cyrus and Kame stopped in front of one of the capsules, standing at what almost seemed to be attention. Drak, unsure of what to do, stood between them, fearing that if they inadvertantly touched one another they may resume their previous hostilities. He would be a good buffer in case something like that should happen...  
  
Teishi continued to lean on him, not able or perhaps not willing to protest or ask Drak about his actions.  
  
Floating serenely in the liquid in front of him, Drak stared at the form of M-2 Specimen A, still lacking a heartbeat, a blood flow...  
  
How did he know that...?  
  
"What...are you doing...?" He asked the two beside him, although he knew the question was useless. As he had expected, the two didn't answer.  
  
There was a whoosh, the sound of one of the sliding doors opening, and Drak turned to look. A voice came to him...  
  
"Mew...!"  
  
The Mewtwo took a step towards him, his eyes open wide. The light that shone through the strange fluid within the capsules reflected in his blue eyes, filled with surprise and joy and relief. On his head was the familiar form of Eclipse, clutching her son's head as if it were her last grip on sanity.  
  
Drak turned and felt a wave of relief over him. He extended his mind to rejoin with Mewtwo-  
  
Haah...!  
  
iBroken, sharp...glass...across the floor...  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
Blood...black...black...everything...  
  
"Did they send you?"  
  
Dark blue eyes...dark blue...  
  
"They send you here to check on me? To watch me?"  
  
Help...help...they're...hurting me...!  
  
"I'm not scared of you. Am I supposed to be?"  
  
Hur...t...hurrr...t hur...pain...all over...all over me...  
  
"Don't mock me."  
  
What's happening...the world's spinning around me...everything is turning upside down...inside out...my heart...!  
  
"What? You need help?"  
  
I can hear it beating...  
  
"Why would you want my help?"  
  
Beating so loud...so fast...it hurts...! I can feel it shaking my body...my heart...heart...  
  
"I can't do it alone..."  
  
Aaaagh...What are you doing to me...what's happening to me?  
  
"I...I don't know. I guess I should...Maybe...it'll redeem me."  
  
I can feel it...underneath my skin...centipedes...centipedes with razors for legs, crawling all over me...all through me...what's...happening...why...how...where am I...who am I?  
  
"...I...I didn't know. I...I thought they were...I thought they had learned. I'm sorry for acting the way I did...I just don't..."  
  
My eyes...they're burning...my skin...it's melting...I can feel everything...  
  
"I don't relate to people well...It's part of my nature...I'm...not very social..."  
  
Thump...thump...my heart...it's shaking my mind...I can feel things coming loose...  
  
"But okay, I'll help you."  
  
Am I going insane?  
  
"Just this once."  
  
Am I going sane?  
  
"You owe me..."  
  
Sharp glinting light...off of sharp things...it's stabbing my eyes...it's stabbing my flesh...it's stabbing my heart...my body is shaking...what is this I'm feeling...who am I...?  
  
"After all, we types have to stick together."/i  
  
~~~  
  
"What are you doing here?" Prof. Denka wasn't sure what to make of the decimated hallway and it's injured inhabitants. Monty and Caleb stared at him.  
  
"Don't...ask questions. Just help us...I think he's going to die..." Monty gestured at the boy sprawled across his legs.  
  
Prof. Denka looked at the silver-haired girl, still curled in a ball, then sighed. "I don't know who you are and I don't know how you got here, but someone told me to help you...so I guess that's what I'm going to do. Move aside please."  
  
He kneeled down near Colt and stared at him for a few moments, then looked at the two who held him. "What's his name?"  
  
"Colt."  
  
"Hmm..." Prof. Denka stood. "If we're lucky, I think I could save him. Maybe."  
  
He grabbed Colt's arm roughly and pulled him onto his feet, letting Colt lean on him in sorts. Because of Colt's lack of consciousness, he didn't attempt to stand at all. However, Prof. Denka was solidly built, therefore he was not bothered in the least. Monty and Caleb were startled at how roughly he had handled him and decided that he must not have any broken bones after all if the man would pick him up in such a way.   
  
"One of you get the girl. We don't have much time."  
  
Free to move, Monty uneasily got to his feet, staggering towards Ashstar. Both he and Caleb knew that with the shrapnel imbedded in his shoulder, he could barely keep his own arm up, let alone another person's weight. Monty struggled mightily and finally managed to get Ashstar to stand, allowing her to lean on him. Caleb stood shakily and turned towards Prof. Denka, who was staring at the piece of metal in his shoulder.  
  
"Not good, that. Not that bad, either. Must be painful, I would imagine. Well, come on then. We don't have much time."  
  
~~~  
  
"We're lost..." Nick moaned. The whole experience had been a lot for him. He was shaky and nervous. Then again, so was Atelli.  
  
"No, no, we can't be lost. We're fine, okay?" She held onto her younger cousin's hand tightly. "We just have to find Ella E and Drak. I'm sure it won't be hard. They must be where we left Reimia and Tashi and the others."  
  
"That lab place?" Nick looked around. "I don't remember where it was anymore...this place is so big and all the hallways look the same..."  
  
"I know, but I know we'll find her. Don't worry about it." Atelli walked up to one of the doors and tested it. It refused to open. Angrily she kicked it and then turned abitrarily left. She headed down the hallway, not sure of where she was going anymore.  
  
"I don't like this place...why is everyone here, anyway?" Nick's voice was small and frightened. "Why is Ella E here?"  
  
"I don't really know anymore." Atelli mumbled. "It was to save one of her friends and then it just went out of control. I wish this was over..."  
  
"Please...wake up..."  
  
Atelli froze in her tracks. "Did you hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?"  
  
"Shh..." Atelli stood silently in the hallway, hoping to hear the soft voice again.  
  
"Are you okay? Please, you have to get up. Something's happening, I think, and I know it's important for some reason...I think I forgot what it was, though..."  
  
"Someone's talking..." Atelli headed towards the voice. "Maybe it's them! Come on, Nick!"  
  
The two began running at full speed towards the sound of the soft, hesitant voice.  
  
~~~  
  
"Drak-sama! Drak-sama!!"  
  
Drak slowly opened his eyes, finding the light stabbing into them almost blindingly. He shut them again quickly, putting his hands over them. Even though the room was not brightly lit, the light harmed him.  
  
"What...happened...?"  
  
"You fainted again...it was terrible, Drak-sama." He ventured to open his eyes, finding that the light wasn't quite as blinding as it used to be. He blinked several times to get the spots from his vision and found Teishi staring at him. He looked worried and frightened. "You gave this terrible noise and then you just...collapsed!"  
  
"What's...going on?"  
  
"Look..." Teishi gestured to their surroundings. "If your eyes are okay, I mean..."  
  
Drak did look.  
  
Mewtwo was standing next to Cyrus, not moving a fraction, apparently at the same strange attention that the others had been frozen into. He was staring directly at M-2 Specimen A, not blinking. Eclipse was still on his head, her eyes closed, shivering.  
  
He himself looked upwards at the dead creature in the tube.  
  
iRespond.../i  
  
He struggled to his feet, finding his breath and heart had accelerated to dangerous levels. Teishi came with him, helping him to stand. Drak was surprised that Teishi still had the strength to do so.  
  
"What?" He couldn't help but respond verbally, as he was subconsciously avoiding mentally communicating after what had happened to him before. For a while there was no answer.  
  
iRespond./i  
  
Drak braced himself and gingerly opened his mental link.   
  
iRespond to wh-/i  
  
A blinding flash of pain burned through his mind, causing him to fall to the floor again. Teishi was at his side.  
  
"Drak-sama, please! Whatever you're doing, stop!" He sounded near tears. "I don't know what could happen to you!"  
  
iRespond!/i  
  
Drak stared at the dead M-2, wondering whether or not that it was the thing that was causing him this pain. "I can't respond unless you let me! Why do you keep hurting me?"  
  
Nothing happened for some time, just a small bubble floating by the dead creature to disappear at the roof of it's capsule.  
  
iCausing self pain./i  
  
The fractured, disjointed speech in his mind sounded as if something had spliced several syllables and had by pure chance created a sentence. He shuddered again and stared at the creature, it's eyes closed.  
  
"What do you mean? What are you talking about?"  
  
iRespond.../i  
  
"I can't!" Drak shouted in frustration. "Don't you understand!?"  
  
The dead creature continued to float without movement, it's malformed limbs floating as small eddies went by them. Drak turned to those around him but found they were motionless, their eyes glazed as if within some mental kind of link. Desperate for companionship, he grabbed Cyrus' hand.  
  
"Cyrus, come back! Tell me what's going on!"  
  
Cyrus didn't respond. Drak drew back from him, frightened. Physical contact could almost always bring someone out of mental contact...  
  
iRespond./i  
  
Drak felt anger rising within him. He opened his mental link again without thinking, his power flaring around him. Instantly the pain crippled him again, but not before he was able to get a furious message to whoever was tormenting him.  
  
iI can't respond until you tell me what you want!/i  
  
"Drak-sama, please!"  
  
Drak refused to kneel on the floor again, instead keeping himself somewhat unsteadily on his feet. He stared at the still form in the fluid.  
  
iBrethren./i  
  
Drak responded before he even knew what he was doing. "Why!?"  
  
iAll brethren....must come.../i  
  
Drak turned to Kame, shaking her angrily. She didn't move. "Come back! Someone come back and tell me what's going on! Tell me why I can't talk to this thing! Tell me why it hurts!"  
  
Even Mewtwo remained stiffly still, not responding nor reconnecting with Drak's mind. Drak fell to his knees, anger and frustration filling his body. He stared at his hands, watching them tremble.  
  
iMust...link./i  
  
"It hurts!" Drak shouted at the dead creature. "Can't you see? Don't you understand? It hurts me to try and contact...to try and speak...I can't!"  
  
iNo illusions. Link now./i  
  
"Why...you still don't understand! What illusions? What are you talking about!?"  
  
Drak gasped in surprise as a sudden pink-bluish light washed over him. Expecting pain, he held his arms in front of him, blocking whatever it was that was attacking him. It proved to be useless as he found himself unharmed. Staring at M-2 Specimen A, he found that it's eyes again had opened, dark holes that burned into his soul.  
  
iNo illusions. Respond./i  
  
Drak clenched his fists angrily. "What was that? What are you trying to do?!"  
  
"Drak-sama..." Teishi stared at him with a strange expression. "I..."  
  
"Please...explain this to me." Drak's tone changed without warning from furious to pleading. "Tell me what's going on! I haven't understood anything since I've come here! Can you tell me what's going on? Why am I here?"  
  
The dead creature didn't respond, it's eyes staring into Drak's own with terrifying intensity. Drak dropped to his knees, putting his hands in his lap and fighting back tears.  
  
"I just want to go back home...I just want everything to be the way it used to be."  
  
iNo illusions./i  
  
Drak jerked his head at the sudden voice within his mind. From the corner of his eye he could just barely glimpse something on the inside of his arm, made visible by his sudden motion. It was almost like...writing...  
  
Drak went unconscious.  
  
To Be Continued... 


End file.
